Deteriorating local roads could face closure within five years

One in six local roads could potentially face closure due to their poor condition according to a report published by the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA).

The AIA has released its Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey, which claims that a lack of investment, increased traffic and harsher weather conditions has led the country to a point where over £1Bn worth of repairs are now required.

The number of potholes filled by councils dropped by 19% in England last year, with the biggest drop in London at 43%. Wales, however, saw an increase in repairs of 19%.

The report suggests that funding totalling more than £12Bn is required to restore the road network back up to scratch – roughly the same figure as the last fours years. However, the difference between level of funding local authorities received last year and what they need to maintain decent road standards is almost £730M.

Alan Mackenzie, Chairman of the AIA, said: “Local authority highway teams do not have enough resources to arrest the terminal decline in the condition of our local roads and the network is not resilient enough to meet the challenges ahead.

“Despite this, the efficiencies they have achieved in recent years through adopting an asset management approach should be applauded.

“Working smarter, greater collaboration and improved communication are all contributing to their ability to do more with less – though of course there will come a point when there are no further efficiency savings to be found.”

Despite the number of potholes repaired over the last year falling again for the second successive year, the figure remains high at 1.7 million – one every 19 seconds.

Mr Mackenzie called for a re-think on how the UK’s road network is funded. He said: “Potholes are a symptom of poorly maintained roads and can have a serious effect on road users but spending money fixing them in isolation, although essential, is wasteful. The most efficient way to deal with our crumbling roads is to fix them properly and stop potholes forming in the first place.

“It is time we had a rethink about the future funding of our roads otherwise we will end up with a network that is just not fit for purpose.”

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