DfT figures show that England’s road network is deteriorating

DfT figures reveal that the condition of England’s roads in 2009/10 deteriorated compared with the previous year.

Roughly 68% of the classified road network was in ‘good’ condition in 2009/10. 26% was in ‘reasonable’ condition, but 6% of the network was in ‘poor’ condition.

The DfT figures, which cover England’s motorways, trunk roads and local authority roads, compare road conditions with those in 2006/07 when the condition ‘score’ was set to 100.

Any increase in the score indicates that the proportion of roads in ‘good’ condition has increased, while decreases show conditions have deteriorated.

The latest figure showed that the score for 2009/10 was 98 compared with 100 in 2008/09.

In 2009/10, English local authorities spent £3.2bn on the maintenance of local roads, while the Highways Agency spent £1.3bn on the maintenance of trunk roads in England.

In 2009/10 the East Midlands had roads in the best condition followed by London and the North East. Roads in the South West, the Humber and Yorkshire, however, were in the poorest condition.

Click here to read the full DfT report.