Local authority leaders have repeated their call for a long-term financial package for road maintenance as the latest ALARM survey reveals the pothole repairs backlog has reached £17bn.
The Asphalt Industry Alliance’s (AIA) Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey has found that £16.81bn is required by councils to bring the network up to their ‘ideal’ conditions.
The annual survey, which was completed by 78% of councils responsible for roads in England, London and Wales, also found that over half (52%) of the local road network has less than 15 years’ structural life remaining, while almost a third may only have up to five years remaining.
David Giles, chair of AIA, said: ‘Over £20bn has been spent on carriageway maintenance in England and Wales over the last decade, including spending to fill the equivalent of one pothole every 18 seconds, every day, for 10 years.
‘However, due partly to the short-term nature of the allocation of funding, it has resulted in no quantifiable uplift in the condition and resilience of the network. In fact, almost all (94%) local authority highway teams reported that, in their opinion, there has been no improvement to their local network over the last year: a view no doubt shared by the majority of road users.’
Cllr Adam Hug, Transport spokesperson for the Local Government Association, commented: ‘It is no surprise to councils that the local roads repair backlog continues to rise, given inflation and huge demand pressures on local government statutory services.
‘The funding increase in the last Budget was positive and must now be followed by a commitment in the Spending Review to a long-term financial package to tackle this backlog and put it into reverse.’
