MYTH: Potholes are formed because there is too much traffic on the road
FACT: Potholes typically begin from small cracks in the road surface.
In warmer weather, particularly through the summer months, the ground underneath the road dries out, moves or subsides and cracks begin to appear in the road surface.
When it rains water seeps into these cracks, washing away some of these materials and reaching the underlying layers of the road.
Traffic use on the road hitting these cracks can also cause the road surface to deteriorate further.
In Winter, when we typically get more rain and colder temperatures, water seeps into these cracks and freezes.
The trapped water expands when frozen which widens the cracks and weakens the road surface,
When the ice melts, it leaves holes beneath the surface, creating pockets of instability and rain often washes away the loose road surface creating bigger holes.
MYTH: Potholes are only filled in they are over a certain width and depth
FACT: Every pothole that is reported to us, or that we come across through our routine road maintenance programme, is assessed and the most serious are made safe within two to 24 hours.
Sometimes, when we assess potholes and they present serious safety issues, we may make temporary repairs to make the road safe until permanent repairs can be made later.
However not all road defects are potholes and while some may be uncomfortable to drive over, if they are less than 4cm deep, they will not damage your vehicle.
These will not be repaired but may be monitored and repaired if they deteriorate.
If a road defect is not serious enough to need immediate attention it is listed as a non-emergency defect which is then further classified as high, medium or low and is added to our road maintenance programme with repairs planned within seven days, 28 days or longer depending on their nature and severity.
MYTH: The council waits for potholes to be reported before they will fix them
FACT: We inspect the roads at least annually but more often for busier roads.
Every year, our capital roads programme includes lots of work to improve road surfacing and protect it from potholes.
This includes both resurfacing and surface treatments where the roads are sealed with specialist treatments to prevent water ingress.
Where a road surface is sealed with no possibility of water ingress then potholes should not form.
However, we cannot routinely seal every road we are responsible for as we do not have the funding available for this.
We maintain 930km of roads – the equivalent distance from Peterborough to Frankfurt in Germany. We have to work within the confines of our funding which means that we have to prioritise locations that pose the greatest safety risks.
MYTH: There are potholes because the council never inspects roads anymore
FACT: The council employs a team of six highways inspectors who are responsible for maintaining the city’s roads networks.
They inspect the roads, footpaths and cycleways based upon their hierarchy.
The inspections are carried out annually, six monthly, quarterly or monthly for roads such as the parkway network and A roads.
If our inspections find defects that require fixing, orders will be raised for repairs to make the area safe.
The inspectors may also recommend that areas are considered by our engineers for a future capital improvement scheme.
Where there is serious deterioration then we may increase the inspection frequency so that the inspector can keep a closer eye on the highway and make repairs as required.
MYTH: The council has a policy to save money by not filling potholes
FACT: This is not true. Safety is always our priority and we carry out regular inspections of the roads, but it is a mammoth task.
The public can also help us by reporting potholes to us as soon as they see them so that we can assess them and take action.
In 2025, the council filled 2,891 potholes and we continue to work to make our roads safe for cyclists, motorists and pedestrians.
If you spot a pothole on our roads please report it to us on the report a problem website.