Councils could repair the ‘crumbling’ road network within a decade if fuel duty was invested back into maintenance, chiefs have claimed.
According to the Local Government Association (LGA), an extra £1bn could be injected into road maintenance every year if the Government invested just two pence per litre of existing fuel duty.
Figures suggest the national backlog of road repairs rose by £1.5bn over the last twelve months to reach £12bn.
Last month local authorities were given £168m from the Department for Transport to tackle problem potholes.
However, the LGA claims such allocations are insufficient and has urged the Government commit to long-term investment.
Council chiefs added that expected increases to local traffic of more than 40% by 2040 were likely to only exacerbate issues surrounding road quality.
‘Motorists pay billions to the Treasury each year in fuel duty when they fill up their car at the pumps only to then have to drive on roads that are decaying after decades of underfunding. They deserve roads fit for the 21st century,’ Cllr Peter Box, chair of the LGA’s Economy and Transport Board, said.
‘Councils are fixing around two million potholes each year despite funding cuts and multi-million pound compensation costs for pothole damage but are trapped in an endless cycle of patching up our deteriorating network.
‘Long-term and consistent investment and better use of motoring taxation is now desperately needed to allow councils to provide widespread improvement of our roads,’ Cllr Box added.
