To ask the Minister for Infrastructure, pursuant to AQW 11969/22-27, to detail his Department’s road defect intervention criteria, in accordance with the limited service maintenance policy.

My Department has been operating in a difficult financial environment for a number of years due to underfunding and austerity by the British Government. As a result, my Department has had to reduce its routine road maintenance activities to a limited service which means my Department can only repair the highest priority defects across the network.

Defects greater than 50mm depth are being repaired across all roads. On high traffic roads, defects greater than 20mm are also being repaired. Pursuant to AQW 11969/22-27, Castle Park Road is a low traffic road and therefore, in accordance with the limited service maintenance policy, defects greater than 50mm will be repaired.

A copy of these standards can be found at:

https://www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/infrastructure/road-maintenance-standards-for-safety-limited-service-in-2021-22-dem-160-21.pdf