The 2019 Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey, published today by the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), reports that, for the second consecutive year, local authorities鈥� highway maintenance budgets have increased by almost 20%. For councils in England and London this included a share of 拢420m additional funding allocated in the November 2018 budget.
The 24th ALARM report shows there are early signs that the extra money is halting further decline, after years of underfunding have led to a local road network on the edge. However, the one-time catch-up cost to fix the network continues to rise, the industry says.
Asphalt Industry Alliance chairman Rick Green said: 鈥淭here are glimmers of hope but, while overall highway maintenance budgets are up, there is still a big discrepancy between the haves and have nots. Some local authorities received the equivalent of 拢90,000 per mile of their individual networks, while a third continue to struggle with reduced budgets, with several having less than 拢9,000 per mile to maintain their local roads.
鈥淎chieving target conditions on all categories of local roads 鈥� those that we all rely on every day 鈥� still remains out of reach. To put this into context, if local authorities had enough funds to meet their own targets across all road types it would give us more than 20,000 miles of improved local roads.
鈥淚t is encouraging that those in control of the purse strings seem to have recognised the value that additional expenditure on roads can deliver. But it鈥檚 clear from the 29% increase in the number of potholes filled in England and London, that much of this has been used for patch and mend. This doesn鈥檛 provide value for money, nor will it improve the underlying structure and resilience of our roads.
鈥淲ith the amount needed to bring the local road network up to scratch still approaching 拢10bn, sustained investment over a longer timeframe is needed if we want a local road network that supports enhanced mobility, connectivity and productivity.
鈥淟ast year the AIA set out that 拢1.5bn additional funding was needed for local roads each year for the next 10 years to allow them to be brought up to a condition from which they can be managed in a cost-effective way. We stand by this call.鈥�
Edmund King, president of the AA motoring organisation, added: 鈥淭he ALARM survey suggests that the country is beginning to find its way out of the rut. Increased funding and a milder winter presents an opportunity to begin to catch up on the backlog 鈥� but any slackening off will simply pitch our roads back into a deep hole.
鈥淕overnment figures for road maintenance expenditure show that, while spending on main roads has risen 25% over the past 10 years (2007/08 鈥� 拢1102m; 2017/18 鈥� 拢1,378m), it has fallen more than 21% on minor roads (2007/08 鈥� 拢2,487m, 2017/18 拢1,953m). At street level, as the ALARM survey shows, drivers will be lucky to see many of their local roads resurfaced more than once in their lifetime, thanks to an average interval of 67 years. There is still a lot of work to be done.鈥�
Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: 鈥淥ur road system is as much an essential utility as the power, water and telecoms networks. It helps drive the nation鈥檚 economic success. The government was rightly congratulated when it committed to a five-yearly work and funding programme for our major roads including motorways, but we are yet to come up with something similar for council-controlled highways.
鈥淭his report shows why a move away from patch and repair to a sustained investment plan is so urgently needed and it echoes last year鈥檚 National Infrastructure Committee call for the same thing.鈥�
Martin Tett, transport spokesman for the Local Government Association, said: 鈥淐ouncils share the frustration of motorists about the state of our local roads and, as this survey shows, fixing our roads is a priority for them. Faced with severe financial pressures, councils have managed to spend more on road repairs in the past year in order to fix a pothole every 17 seconds.
鈥淒espite these efforts, it is clear that our roads are deteriorating at a faster rate than can be repaired by councils, with the cost of clearing our alarming national roads repair backlog on the rise and now at almost 拢10bn.
鈥淓xtra one-off funding announced in the budget will help councils continue to try and improve roads this year but the spending review needs to provide councils with long-term and consistent funding to invest in the resurfacing projects which our road network desperately needs over the next decade.
鈥淩einvesting 2 pence per litre of existing fuel duty into local road maintenance would provide 拢1bn a year for councils to spend on improving roads and filling potholes and begin bringing our roads up to scratch.鈥�
Key findings of ALARM 2019 survey
鈥� Average highway maintenance budgets up almost 20% 鈥� to 拢24.5m per authority, up from 拢20.6m reported in 2018.
鈥� Local authorities reported that, on average, 55% of the average annual highway maintenance is spent on the carriageway.
鈥�Disparity of funding 鈥� ranging from less than 拢9,000 per mile of local authority road network to more than 拢90,000 per mile.
鈥�拢657m: 鈥� annual carriageway budget shortfall (拢4.1m per authority in England; 拢4m in London and 拢2.8m in Wales).
鈥�拢9.79bn: 鈥� estimated one-time cost to get roads back into a reasonable, steady state (拢69.9m per authority in England; 拢31.9m in London and 拢36.3m in Wales).
鈥�67 years:聽 鈥� average time before a road is resurfaced (79 years in England; 28 years in London and 59 years in Wales).
鈥�More potholes filled 鈥� equivalent to 1 every 17 seconds in England and Wales.
鈥�拢26.7m: 鈥� total cost of dealing with compensation claims, including 拢6.9 million paid out in compensation.
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