Highway departments are yet to feel the benefit of Government’s £6Bn promise of funding for local road maintenance – and their overall budget shortfalls are rising, according to a study released today.

 

This year’s Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance survey reports that highway budgets have dropped by 16% and the average shortfall faced by highways teams in trying to keep carriageway in reasonable order has increased by almost half from £3.2M last year to £4.6M this year.

 

Nearly 2.2M potholes were filled last year – down on 2.6M the previous year – and the one time estimated cost to get roads back into reasonable condition in England and Wales remains stubbornly high at £11.8Bn.

 

The Asphalt Industry Alliance, which put together the survey, said that the results paint an unsettling picture and indicate that further decline lies ahead for local roads. 

 

Its chairman Alan Mackenzie added: “It is clear that there is still not enough money available to tackle the backlog of repairs needed to get our road network back into anything approaching a reasonable condition.”

 

But he added that local highway authorities are doing more with less as a result of improved efficiencies. “Local authorities now have better processes and a more focused preventative approach,” he said. “The adoption of highways asset management plans is allowing them to work smarter with less money.”

 

Commenting on the report the Local Government Association transport spokesman Peter Box said: “Our roads crisis is only going to get worse unless we address it as a national priority.

 

“Councils desperately need long term and consistent funding to invest in the resurfacing projects which our road network desperately needs over the next decade.”

 

(Photo: Alastair Lloyd)