A boost of almost £10 million has been earmarked for city highways improvements – with continued road surfacing projects to tackle potholes.

Investment from the highways capital programme for 2025/26 will be bolstered by an extra £500,000 City of Wolverhampton Council commitment, bringing the total to £9.7 million.

Potholes are a priority for the council and over the past year more than 7,900 have been repaired. But with more than 740 kilometres of carriageway to manage, prevention work is key.

That is why the council uses a data-driven, informed strategy to identify where targeted surfacing works can extend the life of roads – reducing the need for reactive repairs.

Surface dressing is completed quickly with little disruption to traffic and protects the road from water and frost – one of the key causes of potholes.

Where required the council also carries out full road resurfacing projects.

Over the past five years the council has treated more than 560 square kilometres of carriageway by resurfacing or surface dressing and repaired more than 58,000 defects in roads and footways – up to 44 per working day.

A range of new surface dressing and full resurfacing works are included in the proposed highway improvements for 2025/26.

Other planned improvements include road safety and traffic management work with upgrades to the council’s car park management systems.

There will also be a completion of the streetlighting upgrade, with almost 30,000 streetlights now switched to energy and money-saving LED, helping cut carbon emissions.

Councillor Qaiser Azeem, City of Wolverhampton Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport and Green City, said: “By investing we can ensure an efficient, safe and smooth flowing network for all modes of transport that supports businesses and helps achieve our sustainable regeneration ambitions and climate change commitments.

“We know potholes are an important issue for people, as they are up and down the country.

“We have a clear data-led, long-term strategy to tackling this which strikes a safe and prudent balance of reactive and preventative maintenance as we move forward.”

The council will carry out the 2025/26 work under the next phase of its Highway Capital Programme. Funding has come through external grants and council resources.

The programme has delivered £37.5m worth of improvements and development work since 2020.

Completed improvements in 2024/25 include several road safety and Safer Routes to Schools projects and a raft of maintenance works to carriageways, footpaths and structures, alongside surface treatments.

There has been an expansion of the CCTV network and smart technology systems and further rollout of electronic driver information signs, helping to manage car parks across the city.

The Highway Capital Programme aligns with the ongoing work of the Black Country Transport and Wolverhampton Major Transport Investment Programme to deliver transport schemes across the city and wider region, developed mainly with external funding.

Projects for delivery under this programme include the development of electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure across the region, active travel schemes and the ongoing development of the A4123, A449 and A454 corridors.

The planned improvements are pending approval at City of Wolverhampton Council’s Cabinet meeting on February 19.