Welsh Government £1.5m ‘windfall’ to fix Flintshire pot holes

Road users in Flintshire could see a big improvement in the state of the counties roads after the Welsh Government announced it was handing the council nearly £1.5m to fill potholes.

AM Ken Skates has welcomed crucial Welsh Government investment of almost £4m to improve the state of roads across North East Wales.

Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services, Alun Davies, recently committed the cash to fixing potholes throughout the region.

The windfall includes £1.4m for Wrexham, which according to Welsh Government statistics has the worst roads in North Wales.

In total an extra £7.9m will be spent in North Wales, which includes £1,427,33 for Flintshire, the same amount for Wrexham and £1,204,380 for Denbighshire.

Mr Skates said: “Budgets remain extremely stretched because of the cruel and relentless Tory austerity agenda which has seen more than £1.4bn snatched from Wales by Westminster since 2010.

“Within that context, I’m delighted that the Welsh Labour Government has secured this significant investment in North East Wales to help fix our roads. The winter has been very damaging for our road network and it’s important that it’s rectified quickly.”

Mr Skates also welcomed ‘rapidly progressing’ plans to tackle congestion on the A483 and at Halton Roundabout near Chirk.

Both will be addressed within three years.

The latest tranche of Welsh Government funding for roads will be administered by local councils.

Figures released in February 2017 showed Flintshire’s roads were rated the best while neighbouring Wrexham council’s roads have bbeen rated as the worst in North Wales.

Alun Davies said: “In my discussions with local government, they have been clear about the pressures on the road network and how in some parts of Wales the state of local roads is

simply not up to a safe standard. I am really pleased to be able to make this funding available to support a comprehensive refurbishment programme and improve future resilience of the roads network.”

Welsh Local Government Spokesman for Transport, Andrew Morgan, said: “We are grateful to Welsh Government for listening to our calls for further funding to maintain the highway network. Residents, businesses and tourists across Wales rely on our roads on a daily basis and so it is vital to ensure that they are in a good condition.”