TRANSPORT chiefs are to allow residents to decide which roads should be repaired under an £800,000 scheme.

Salford council will give £100,000 to each of its eight community committees and they will choose which streets get priority.

Residents in Claremont and Weaste have already put forward plans to improve lighting around Gilda Brook Road subway, to redesign parking at Irlams o' th' Height and to install traffic calming measures on Derby Road.

People in East Salford would like to see street lighting improvements on New Hall Road as well as traffic calming measures on Great Clowes Street and a speed warning sign on Broad Street to encourage people to slow down near crossings.

Safety

Coun Derek Antrobus, the city's planning boss, said: "We are continuing our successful policy of giving power to communities to decide what is important for them. In most cases this has turned out to be road safety measures."

In a council survey about town hall services, the state of the roads triggered most dissatisfaction. Comments included:

Too many pot holes are not being repaired;

Repairs are often 'patchwork' and don't last long;

Pavements are not level and vehicles are parked on them;

The highways budget is not big enough to maintain roads properly.

Maintenance

Last year a report estimated it would take 30 years to resurface the city's roads.

The city spends £4.5m a year on roads maintenance.

Council officials said all potholes are repaired within 24 hours at a cost of £45 each.

They say that to qualify as a pothole - and as an emergency repair an `abrasion' must be at least two inches deep. Other cracks are dealt with less urgently. The council is in the third year of a £22m five-year investment programme to improve pavements.

Opposition councillors have criticised the authorityfor the state of the city's roads. But Coun Antrobus insists the there is an efficient operation in place to deal with repairs.

What do you think? Have your say.