Report paints “bleak” picture for condition of local roads

The one-time cost to fix local roads in England and Wales has reached £14 billion for the first time – the equivalent of £68,000 for every mile.

That’s according to the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), who commissions an annual survey of highways departments in all local authorities in England and Wales to build a picture of the general condition of local roads.

The latest edition of the Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey, published on 23 March, saw a record 75% of local authorities respond.

It concludes that £14.02 billion is now needed to fix the backlog of carriageway repairs.

This is the amount needed as a one-off investment to bring the network up to a condition that would allow it to be managed cost effectively going forward as part of a proactive asset management approach.

The AIA has described the findings of the survey as “bleak”.

The aim of the ALARM survey is to highlight the connection between local road maintenance funding and conditions, based on information provided directly by those responsible for their maintenance.

The report finds that while average highway maintenance budgets have increased by 4.5% to £25.8 million per authority, this does not keep pace with the impacts of rising inflation and represents a cut in real terms.

Additionally, not all local authority highway teams saw an increase in funding: 53% of authorities actually reported a cut or freeze in their highway maintenance budget, even before inflation is taken into account.

Meanwhile, the average percentage of highway maintenance budget allocated to the carriageway dropped slightly to 50%, the lowest it has been for a decade. 

The report says this reflects the need to balance the maintenance of other parts of the highway asset, such as structures, signage, street lighting and drainage.

In terms of road condition, the report finds there has been a drop in the number of roads classed as green (in a good state of repair) and a corresponding increase in those classed as AMBER (showing some deterioration).

Roads classed as RED (poor overall condition) have remained stable with one in every nine miles (11%) of the local road network likely to require maintenance in the next 12 months. This equates to around 22,600 miles.

In total, 1.4 million potholes were filled – down from 1.7 million last year – but still equivalent to one every 22 seconds. Overall, £93.7 million was spent filling potholes in 2022/23 and the total spent over the last 10 years is more than £1 billion.

Rick Green, chair of the AIA, said: “The findings of this year’s survey make for bleak, if not unsurprising, reading. 

“Local roads underpin all other local services, but findings show a worsening picture in their overall conditions and the means to improve them.

“Resurfacing now takes place, on average, less than once every 100 years; local authority highway budget shortfalls in 2022/23 were up to record levels and the cost of the backlog of repairs to bring the network up to scratch is, at just over £14 billion, the highest it has been.

“Rising costs due to inflationary pressures mean that despite a moderate increase in overall local highway maintenance budgets, engineers can do less, and many have been forced to postpone or cancel road schemes to make savings. 

“This will only store up problems and additional costs for the future – and have a negative impact on network resilience.”

The report recommends that to ‘really improve conditions and create a safe, resilient and sustainable network, what’s needed is a longer-term funding horizon from central government with more highway budget ring-fencing’.

It adds that this ‘would help local authority engineers to plan effectively and be able to implement more efficient works to protect and enhance the resilience of the local road network’.

Mr Green added: “Highway engineers can only do so much with the resources they’re given and should be applauded for the steps they take to keep roads safe.

“It’s clear from the column inches and social media posts devoted to potholes that the condition of our local roads remains a key issue for the public. Materials innovation and technical advances can only go so far: they are not a silver bullet. 

“Without a change to the funding structure and the amount allocated, local road conditions can’t – and won’t – improve.”

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