ALARM roads survey 2016 – the Councils’ view

Responding to the Asphalt Industry Alliance’s annual ALARM survey, Cllr Peter Box, transport spokesman at the Local Government Association, said: “It is becoming increasingly urgent to address the roads crisis we face as a nation. Our roads are deteriorating fast and it would take almost £12 billion and be close to 2030 before we could bring them up to scratch and clear the current roads repair backlog.

“Councils fixed a pothole every 15 seconds again last year despite significant budget reductions leaving them with less to spend on fixing our crumbling roads. Local authorities are proving remarkably efficient in how they use this diminishing funding pot but they remain trapped in a frustrating cycle that will only ever leave them able to patch up our deteriorating roads.

“Councils share the frustration of motorists having to pay to drive on roads that are often inadequate. Our polling shows that 83 per cent of the population would support a small amount of the existing billions they pay the Treasury each year in fuel duty being reinvested to help councils bring our roads up to scratch.

“Our roads crisis is only going to get worse unless we address it as a national priority. The Government’s own traffic projections predict a potential increase in local traffic of more than 40 per cent by 2040. Councils desperately need long-term and consistent funding to invest in the resurfacing projects which our road network desperately needs over the next decade.”

The scale of the problem is daunting; Councils fixed almost 2 million potholes in the last 12 months. On average each local authority fixed 12,000 potholes last year, and this at a time when the average highway maintenance budget per local authority has fallen by 16 per cent.