More than 500 stretches of road repaired so far this year
Dudley Council has responded to increased reports of potholes across the borough this year, new figures reveal and has repaired more than 500 stretches of road.
The recent snow and heavy rain have seen 6000 reports of potholes this year, compared to around 10,000 for the whole of last year. This equates to more than 150 a day, with the council prioritising the most urgent to ensure the best use of resources.
Responding to these reports, the highways team have completed reactive defect repairs in more than 500 locations so far this year across the borough.
Alongside this, the authority is also carrying out long term proactive work to re-lay longer stretches of roads where it is deemed there is a risk of the surface breaking up and deteriorating.
Roads completed in this programme so far this year include East Street in Lower Gornal, Cross Street in Halesowen, Yew Tree Hills in Netherton and New Street in Wall Heath.
Councillor Simon Phipps, cabinet member for economy and infrastructure, said:
“Following some horrendous rainfall since the start of the year, we are getting about 150 reports per day from people concerned about potholes.
“This is a national issue that councils up and down the country are having to deal with, not just here in Dudley, but that hasn't stopped our team getting out there to carry out repairs.
“They are working in all weathers and even overnight to prioritise and repair the most dangerous potholes.
“We also have a long-term programme to try and improve the overall state of the roads right across the borough that we have put more money into over the last few years, moving away from short-term fixes that were the only thing the council did ten years ago.
“When roads receive our full resurfacing treatment, we plane down the road surface and properly relay it across the full width of the carriageway. You'll notice this happen much more often as the weather improves, when we can expect better weather to allow our contractors to carry out the work properly.
“Residents have given us some great feedback since this started, but with more than 600 miles of roads across the borough we know the work is never completed and we have more to do.
“I would like to thank our residents, who help to keep us updated on locations through our online reporting system MyDudley.”
The council repaired more than 25,000 square metres of road in 2025, with contractors continuing to carry out “night time blitz” operations as part of the work.