The backlog* of carriageway repairs to fix local roads in England and Wales has reached £12.64 billion, compounded by increased costs caused by rising inflation, reports this year’s Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey.
The ALARM survey, published today (March 22, 2022) by the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), highlights the scale of the worsening issue faced by highway engineers who have to make difficult choices about keeping local roads open and safe versus improving overall conditions.
Despite an increase in average highway maintenance budgets (up 4% on 2020/21), the proportion being invested in the carriageway itself is down and the reported backlog of carriageway repairs has increased by almost a quarter (23%) on last year’s figure to £12.64 billion – or £61,700 for every mile of local road in England and Wales.
Rick Green, AIA Chair, said: “Local authority highway teams have a legal responsibility to keep our roads safe, but do not have the funds to do so in a cost effective, proactive way. As a result, while they report some slight improvements in surface conditions, the structure of our roads continues to decline.
“Although surface repairs have a part to play in extending the life of local roads, short-term fixes, including filling potholes, is indicative of a network that is ‘on the edge’ and less efficient and sustainable when it comes to materials usage and whole-life carbon emissions.
”This year marks the 27th successive ALARM survey, which received a record number of responses from 73% of local authorities in England and Wales. It reports local roads funding and conditions based on information provided directly by those responsible for its maintenance. The findings of ALARM 2022, which relate to the 2021/22 financial year, show that in England and Wales:
•Local authorities would have needed an extra £1 billion last year just to reach their own target road conditions, before even thinking about tackling the backlog of repairs.
•Almost one in five local roads could need to be rebuilt in the next five years – nearly 37,000 miles of the network.
•One pothole is filled the equivalent of every 19 seconds.
•Roads are only resurfaced on average once every 70 years.
Responding to the findings, Local Council Roads Innovation Group (LCRIG) President Will Britain said: “With a continued squeeze on local highway authority budgets it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain roads to a standard that people expect and deserve. Longer term planning is key to enable more efficient and effective planning and delivery.
“At LCRIG we continue to make the case for local roads and will work with our council members, the supply chain and key partners, including the DfT, to make sure that this message is delivered loud and clear. The work of local highway teams must be recognised and reflected through funding which will subsequently ensure that road users see improved highways.”
Rick Green added: “The link between continued underinvestment and the ongoing structural decline and below par surface conditions of our local roads is clear. The country’s ambitions to encourage active travel, plus cutting waste and carbon emissions, will not be achieved with a short-term approach that can’t deliver a first-rate local road network.
“Recent government announcements regarding three-year spending on maintenance (for England) are a step in the right direction but don’t go far enough. To ensure we have a safe, resilient, sustainable network on which we can all rely, a longer-term approach and significant investment is still needed across the country.
“The longer it takes for the funding to be put in place to tackle the backlog of repairs, the more it is going to cost to put it right in the future. Four years ago, the AIA calculated that an additional £1.5 billion per year was needed for 10 years to bring local roads up to scratch. In the meantime, the network has continued to decline and ALARM 2022 indicates that an additional investment of more than £2 billion a year over the next decade is now needed.
*The backlog describes the amount that would be needed – as a one-off catch-up cost – to bring the network up to condition that would allow it to be managed cost effectively and sustainably going forward as part of a proactive asset management approach.
Industry reaction:
Local Government Association (LGA) transport spokesperson, Cllr David Renard: “Despite the efforts of councils, which repair a pothole every 19 seconds, these stark new figures show our local road repair backlog is rising. To clear this growing backlog, councils need further government investment and certainty over future funding over the next decade.
“Roads are the most important transport infrastructure in the country. The ability of councils to improve local transport connectivity and infrastructure is critical to levelling up the country, supporting our long-term economic recovery from the pandemic and reducing transport related carbon emissions to meet the country’s net-zero targets.”
RAC Head of Roads Policy, Nicholas Lyes: “This year’s AIA ALARM report provides a sobering picture of the dire condition of our local road network. Not only has there been a significant increase in the cost to fix the backlog of defects, but worryingly the report also shows that roads are only resurfaced once every 70 years on average, with maintenance mostly focusing on filling potholes which is often nothing more than a sticking plaster.
“The Government must now look at implementing a long-term funding strategy which ringfences a small proportion of existing fuel duty revenue to give local authorities the resources to properly plan maintenance and to ensure our local roads are once again made fit for purpose.”
Nick Chamberlin, Policy Manager at British Cycling, said: “Local roads need desperate attention. The Government has been kicking the can down the road for far too long. Potholes and poor road surfaces are a problem that all road users can unite on, but they are particularly dangerous for people who cycle. The problem demands a proper long term funding solution. We support the AIA in its annual call, in support of local councils up and down the country, to have our local roads made a national priority for investment.”
The AA’s Head of Roads Policy, Jack Cousens said: “This years’ ALARM survey reveals a harsh reality where local roads maintenance teams battle a rising tide of road deterioration and councils become increasingly submerged by compensation claims. It is deplorable that yet more billions of pounds are needed to make our roads safe.
“Each year the debate around roads maintenance degenerates into a blame game between local authorities and Government as each claims it is the other’s responsibility to resolve. Local and national government must get round the table and create a fully-funded plan that will help make our roads safer. There is now a need to focus available road funding on the most basic need: fixing the roads – for the benefit of drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. “Residents rightly complain that their roads are resurfaced once a lifetime at every 70 years. Despite talks of levelling up, road users would simply like the roads levelled out.”
Institute of Highway Engineers (IHE) Chief Executive, Steve Spender commented: “Highway authorities put great effort (and funding) into dealing with surface defects such as potholes but, as highlighted by this year’s ALARM survey, there is not sufficient funding available to deal with the deterioration in the structural condition of the local networks and this remains a matter of concern.
“With a 23% rise in the reported backlog required to bring our local roads up to an acceptable standard, greater investment is needed to redress the balance and enable structural repairs to be undertaken. This is needed to enable local highway engineers to continue to protect their networks.”
You can read the report here.