Industry commentators have described Government’s allocation of £50M to repair potholes on English local roads over the next 12 months as little more than a ‘drop in the ocean’.

 

Last week the Department for Transport revealed that more than 100 councils would receive funding to remove around 943,000 potholes from local roads during this financial year.

 

This initial investment of £50M forms part of the Department’s dedicated £250M Pothole Action Fund, which will be used to repair over 4M potholes by 2020/21.

 

Campaign for Better Transport sustainable transport campaigner Bridget Fox said: “The local road network is in such a poor state of repair that £50M is just a drop in the ocean that will barely make a dent in the backlog, let alone on the funding needed for on-going maintenance.”

 

Road Haulage Association chief executive Richard Burnett added: “This money, and the fact that the pothole crisis was acknowledged in the Budget, is welcome. But so many local roads are in such a dreadful condition that much more money will be needed, and soon.

 

“Britain is afflicted by a pothole plague that is causing needless damage and congestion which is hurting car drivers, hauliers and the economy as well as the safety of vulnerable road users, especially cyclists,” he added.

 

Also responding to the announcement, the Local Government Association’s transport spokesman Martin Tett described the £50M fund as a step in the right direction but said “councils need more than 230 times that amount to cover the £11.8Bn cost to bring our roads up to scratch”.

 

“The condition of our roads is only going to get worse unless we address it as a national priority.”

 

Asphalt Industry Alliance chairman Alan Mackenzie added that the £50M allocation “does nothing to address the cumulative effect of decades of under funding and perpetuates the downward spiral of the ‘patch and mend’ approach”.

 

He said: “The most efficient way to deal with the problem of our failing roads is to fix them properly and stop potholes forming in the first place.

 

“Our research has shown that an ‘invest to save’ approach pays dividends with every planned investment providing long term savings of more than twice the amount spent. Throwing money into potholes is complete madness.” 

 

(Photo: Asphalt Industry Alliance)