Bev Craig Launches £60m Pothole Fund for Greater Manchester 2026

Key Points

• Mayor Bev Craig has announced that £60 million is to be made available to Greater Manchester through a Pothole Fund. The fund will come out of the existing transport budget for the city-region.
• This £60 million is to go towards fixing and maintaining over one million square metres of roads and footpaths which works out to 125km in total over the 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester.
• Distribution of the money is based on the amount of road surface, and Manchester (£8.16m) and Wigan (£8.24m) will get the most of the cash.
• The hope is that this funding will make driving and cycling safer and reduce costs to councils for emergency repairs to potholes.
• It comes after complaints from residents and an election promise made by Craig, who already has pothole fixing taking place on Trevor Road in Eccles.
• However, RAC has welcomed this move but asked for a guarantee of long-term funding to avoid ‘patch and dash’ maintenance of the roads.

Manchester (Manchester Mirror) September 03, 2026 – Mayor Bev Craig has unveiled a £60 million Pothole Fund designed to repair roads and pavements across all 10 boroughs in the city-region. The package, drawn from a reallocation of existing transport budgets, is expected to restore more than one million square metres of surface – around 125km of roads and footpaths – and forms part of the mayor’s manifesto commitment to improve everyday journeys and pedestrian safety.

What is the Greater Manchester pothole fund and how much will it repair?

The Greater Manchester pothole fund is a £60 million investment dedicated to fixing damaged roads and footpaths, with Transport for Greater Manchester stating the money will be enough to repair and maintain more than one million square metres of surface. Officials say the work will cover everything from residential streets to major commuter routes, targeting both existing potholes and proactive resurfacing to prevent future deterioration.

As reported by Alice Lorenzato-Lloyd of Secret Manchester, the fund is intended to enhance road safety for all users – including drivers, cyclists, pedestrians and public transport passengers – in a region where around 2.5 billion journeys are made on roads each year. The mayor’s office has said the funding exceeds the total annual road and pavement maintenance grant that the 10 local councils collectively receive from central government.

How will the £60m pothole money be split across Greater Manchester’s 10 boroughs?

The £60 million will be divided between Greater Manchester’s 10 local councils using an agreed allocation formula based primarily on the number and length of roads in each area. According to figures provided by Transport for Greater Manchester and reported by the BBC and Secret Manchester, the indicative allocations are:

• Bolton: £6.55 million
• Bury: £4.37 million
• Manchester: £8.16 million
• Oldham: £5.26 million
• Rochdale: £5.24 million
• Salford: £5.39 million
• Stockport: £6.82 million
• Tameside: £4.98 million
• Trafford: £4.99 million
• Wigan: £8.24 million

Mayor Craig explained that the approach was straightforward: “the more roads you have, the more money you get”, noting that Greater Manchester has around 125km of roads in total.

What have Mayor Bev Craig and local leaders said about the pothole repairs?

Mayor Bev Craig has framed the fund as a direct response to complaints she received during her election campaign and as a way to reduce costs for both motorists and councils. As reported by Alice Lorenzato-Lloyd of Secret Manchester, Craig said: “Keeping our roads and pavements safe and well maintained is essential for a growing city region like Greater Manchester. That’s why I promised to create this new Pothole Fund that will benefit drivers and everyone who uses our roads to get around.”

Craig added: “Properly maintaining our roads will save motorists money on costly repairs. And by preventing potholes forming in the first place, councils won’t have to spend as much money on emergency road repairs.” She told the BBC that 2.5 billion journeys were made across Greater Manchester’s roads annually and that the aim was to “get money out of the door quickly to fix the things that people have been complaining to me about”.

Local leaders have also welcomed the funding. As reported by Secret Manchester, Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett said: “Our residents deserve roads and pavements that are safe, reliable and fit for a growing city. This investment gives us the means to fund repairs, prevent future deterioration and improve everyday journeys for everyone who lives, works or travels through Salford.” Dennett added: “Maintaining and improving our highways network is not simply about fixing potholes – it is about supporting our economy, connecting communities and making sure our streets are fit for the future.”

What do drivers, garages and the RAC say about potholes in Greater Manchester?

Local businesses and motoring organisations have highlighted the scale of the problem that the fund is intended to address. As reported by the BBC, Dave Rigby, who runs a garage in Eccles, said potholes were “quite a big factor” in the work his business sees, with vehicles brought in daily for repairs to suspension, tyres, wheel alignment and tracking. Rigby noted that while his business benefits financially, better roads would ultimately leave “more money in people’s pockets” amid rising living costs.

The RAC has responded cautiously to the announcement. As reported by the BBC, Rod Dennis of the RAC said what was needed to fix “Britain’s pothole woes, and those we see in Manchester, is guaranteed long-term funding over many, many years”. Dennis called for “an end to the kind of patch and dash approach which we’ve seen some councils employ and proper planning to get the roads back to where they need to be”.

Where has work already started and what types of roads will be fixed?

The mayor announced the fund during a visit to Trevor Road in Eccles, a residential street where resurfacing work was already under way on 2 September 2026. Officials say the new Pothole Fund will support projects across the city-region, ranging from smaller local streets to major commuter routes, with an emphasis on both reactive repairs and preventative resurfacing.

Transport for Greater Manchester has described damaged sections of roads and pavements as “a common and frustrating issue affecting drivers across the country”, as well as walkers and cyclists, and said the allocated funding would help tackle existing defects while also resurfacing roads to stop them deteriorating in the first place.

Background to Greater Manchester’s pothole and road maintenance challenges

Potholes and surface damage in Greater Manchester have been attributed to a combination of cold, wet winters, increasing traffic volumes and heavier vehicles using local roads, according to explanations provided by the mayor’s office and local authorities. Councils have long relied on central government maintenance grants, which officials say are now exceeded by the new £60 million package. The funding follows a national increase in government money for pothole repairs, but is being delivered through a city-region transport budget reallocation rather than a new grant.

Bev Craig, who was elected mayor in August 2026 after previously serving as leader of Manchester City Council, campaigned on promises to improve roads and high streets across the 10 boroughs. The pothole fund is one of several early initiatives, alongside a separate £20 million Good Growth High Streets Fund aimed at town centres.

Prediction: how the pothole fund could affect drivers, cyclists and residents in Greater Manchester

If the £60 million is deployed as planned, drivers in Greater Manchester can expect fewer sudden pothole-related repairs and lower vehicle maintenance bills, while councils may see a reduction in emergency fix costs as more roads are proactively resurfaced. Cyclists and pedestrians should benefit from smoother footpaths and road edges, potentially reducing accidents and making walking and cycling more attractive options in urban areas.

However, the long-term impact will depend on whether this injection is followed by sustained funding and coordinated planning, as urged by the RAC. Without multi-year commitments, there is a risk that gains could be eroded by future weather cycles and traffic growth, leaving residents facing a return to frequent complaints about surface quality.