More than half of the road network in England and Wales could fail in the next 15 years.
That’s the worrying conclusion from this year’s Annual Local Authority Maintenance (ALARM) survey that has been published this week.
The amount needed to fix the current backlog of repairs nationwide was reported to be £16.3 billion, and highlights the scale of the challenge that’s being faced by local authority highway teams who don’t have the funds to keep roads in good shape.
The report noted that poor road conditions impact everyday lives, from the cost and inconvenience of damage to vehicles to potentially causing accidents.
It said they are the number one complaint in local politicians’ post bags, yet highway teams don’t get enough funding to fix them.
“Local authorities have a bit more money to spend this year, but the impact of rising costs due to inflation means they have actually been able to do less with it,” said Rick Green, chair of the Asphalt Industry Alliance which commissioned the ALARM survey.
“Couple this with the effects of the extreme weather we are increasingly facing, and the result is that the rate at which local roads are suffering is accelerating towards breaking point.”
The survey found that more than 107,000 miles of roads that may need to be rebuilt within the next 15 years, while surface conditions have also declined despite spending nearly £140 million filling in two million potholes over the last 12 months – equal to one every 15 seconds.
Green added: “There’s still a mountain to climb when it comes to fixing our local roads, and while it’s great that English local authorities should be getting more money from the Government through its Network North funding, it’s clearly not going to be enough to halt the decline.
“The Transport Secretary was quoted as saying that the additional £8.3 billion over 11 years is enough to resurface 5,000 miles of local roads.
“This sounds like a lot, but not when you consider that there are already more than 34,000 miles identified as structurally poor, with less than five years’ life remaining.
“We need to get to the point where local authority highway engineers can plan and proactively carry out repairs and preventative works in the most timely and efficient way to the greatest benefit of all road users – rather than just having enough money to address immediate and urgent needs.”
This year’s ALARM survey is the 29th, and received responses from 72% of local authorities in England and Wales.
Cllr Paul Fishwick, Wokingham Borough Council’s executive member for active travel, transport and highways, told Wokingham Today: “This report confirms what we have been saying for some time, that the borough’s roads (like those elsewhere in the country) are at risk of falling apart because of severe underfunding from central government.
“We will make the best use of our limited resources to help drivers, but would urge the government to consider the long-term impact of funding decisions.”
A spokesperson confirmed the highways maintenance budget at Wokingham Borough Council is £4.054 million for this financial year, including £2.280 million for structural road maintenance.
The remainder is for other highway assets, such as crash barriers, integrated transport and bridges.
The survey found that average highway maintenance budgets per authority, excluding London, was £34.5 million.
Edmund King, president of the AA, said: “Our breakdown data shows that 2023 was the worst year for potholes for five years.
“The latest ALARM report shows just how much is needed to simply get our roads up to standard.
“Arguably the road network is a local council’s biggest asset, but not enough planned investment and repairs are being made to make streets safer and smoother for drivers and those on two wheels.
“Resurfacing occurs on average once every 80 years – making it a once in a lifetime event.”
