The council is significantly increasing the number of resources for pothole season to help tackle the repairs needed on the county’s roads.
Historically, at this time of year, there is always an increase in the number of potholes experienced and reported.
Currently, there are 5,400 potholes requiring repair across Cambridgeshire. In the past week, the council has repaired over 1,000 potholes.
There will be a dramatic increase in the number of work crews dealing with both temporary and permanent fixes – normally there are eight crews and two dragon patchers available across the county, now there are 30 crews and two dragon patchers working hard to repair potholes. This will significantly increase the level of pothole repairs attended to each week.
In the winter, a lot more road defects and potholes form due to wet and freezing weather, being seen across the country, causing those worn areas of road and pavement surfaces to break up.
Our highways team carry out regular inspections of our roads, bridges, cycleways and footpaths. Defects identified and reported to us are repaired as quickly as possible.
Since 2023/24, the amount of capital funding spent on highway maintenance has increased by £35m, from £24m to £59m. The Council has allocated more than £73m for highways maintenance in 2025/26.
Cllr Alex Beckett, chair of Highways and Transport Committee at Cambridgeshire County Council, said: “Driving, cycling or walking around the county there’s no getting away from the fact it’s pothole season and battling them is our top priority. While we’re now investing record amounts, refreshing our roads, and getting ahead of the problem, decades of underinvestment have sadly left us with a very old network, which is prone to breaking up at this time of year.
“In response, we’ve now surged our crews more than tripling the number out on our roads and fixing potholes around the clock.
“I’d like to thank everyone for their patience while we battle the potholes. Please do keep reporting any you come across and if you see one of our crews out, do give them a friendly wave.”
The Highways and Transport Committee have recently supported budget proposals that could see an additional £20m of investment into road maintenance in 2026/27. Read more on our website.
Pothole facts:
- Over the past five years, we have repaired an average of 55,400 individual potholes each year.
- In general terms, if a pothole is large and deep, we will fix it within five days. If it is smaller and less of a hazard, we will fix it within 21 days
- We mark up the potholes in different ways, those repaired in five days are not marked as our repair is immediate, yellow means we will repair it within 21 days. We always aim to fix potholes within five and 21 days depending on their level of priority
- We aim to fix emergency faults as soon as possible, always within five days
- We always aim to repair potholes with a permanent fix first time. However, this depends on the weather – if it’s wet or has been raining we sometimes have to make temporary fixes to keep people safe and moving as the road conditions are too wet for permanent repairs. Permanent fixes will then be programmed in and delivered when the weather allows
- A pothole repair costs around £50
- The dragon patcher is a specialist machine, nicknamed the ‘dragon’ because it fires out flames to dry out the road surface, it is then cleaned with compressed air and sealed with a stone mix and hot bitumen. It is much quicker and simpler compared to traditional methods.
The public can report any potholes or highway faults using our online tool. It's easy to use and flags any faults which have not yet been marked - https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/highwayfaults
