Potholes the priority as council pledges £22m for city roads

Action vow as cabinet agrees spending

- Phil Corrigan Local Democracy Reporter

COUNCIL leaders have agreed plans to spend £22.2 million on Stoke-on-Trent's roads this year.

Stoke-on-Trent's highways capital programme for 2025/26 includes a raft of schemes to upgrade individual roads and bridges, work to improve the city bus network and deal with flooding, and road safety projects near schools.

And about £10 million will be set aside for pothole repairs and reactive maintenance on roads across Stoke-on-Trent. Funding will come from various Department for Transport grants, including a £7.7 million Local Transport Grant, and £8 million from the council itself.

About 15 additional schemes are being reviewed for delivery in 2026/27.

Cabinet members at the city council rubberstamped the highways capital programme on Tuesday.

Cabinet member Finlay Gordon-McCusker, above, said: "People are very tired of promises, they want action. They want potholes filled, crossings fixed and roads that don’t wreck their suspension.

"This year's highways capital programme is the answer to that. There's nearly £10 million of new funding from the Government for transport and highways in the city. The Government do get it and are backing us with additional funding."