PLANS to improve Surrey's roads by increasing pothole inspections by up to three times are set to be agreed at a meeting of the county council's cabinet next week.
Surrey's busiest roads are currently inspected four times a year, but under the new proposals this would be increased to once a month.
The council added that the new approach also involves planning pothole repairs further in advance so that more permanent repairs can be made first time, as opposed to temporary fixes.
John Furey, Surrey County Council's cabinet member for transport and environment, said: "By inspecting our roads more often and through planning pothole repairs up to five days ahead, we can make more permanent fixes first time and set aside the time to repair more of the defects in a road at once.
"We make more temporary pothole repairs than we would like at the moment, because our workers are dashing from road to road each time one is reported. This clearly isn't the most efficient way to work.
"It also means if workers discover other problems with a road when they are on site, they often don't have time to fix them on the spot. These new proposals would help us address this."
Under the council's current system, roads are broken down into four categories, with the busiest roads inspected every three months and the least used reviewed annually.
Under the new proposals, roads are being reclassified into five categories, with A roads and most main and rural roads being examined once a month.
Link roads, including some main and secondary roads, will be inspected every three months as opposed to once a year, while access roads will continue to be inspected annually.
Mr Furey added: "Prevention is better than cure so we're investing £100 million over five years in overhauling 310 miles of Surrey's worst roads.
"This means our major road maintenance budget has gone from £12million to £20million a year."
The council said the two-hour deadline for responding to potholes and other defects that pose a serious safety risk will remain.
Members of Surrey County Council's cabinet will meet to discuss the proposals on Tuesday.
