ALARM report highlights true cost of road neglect

THE 15th Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) Survey, published on 25 March, reveals the chilling effects on local authority roads, and budgets, of last year’s extreme weather. Eighty per cent of local authorities had their roads badly damaged by the winter storms, leaving a £400 million hole in maintenance budgets.

According to the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), which commissioned the survey, these additional costs fall on departments already underfunded by a total of £800 million in England and Wales, and 70% of local authorities say they do not anticipate receiving emergency funding to help meet this unexpected burden. 

The ALARM Survey, which collects information from local authority highways departments responsible for 95% of roads across England and Wales, also reveals a 40% rise in the number of potholes in local authority roads. In 2009, 1.4 million potholes were filled across England and Wales, at a cost of £103 million, while the number of trenches dug by utility companies topped 2.5 million. 

The cost of bringing the country’s roads up to scratch has risen to £9.5 billion, an increase of 12% on the previous year. Local authorities in England estimate that it would take a minimum of 11.5 years to catch up on the backlog of repairs at present rates of funding. The backlog in Wales would take 15 years to clear.

According to the report, reactive maintenance – the costs of dealing with emergency repairs rather than planned works – consumes one quarter of the average maintenance budget, but this work must be carried out if roads are not to become unsafe.

Following publication of the report, the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) is calling for:

• a new approach to funding roads maintenance, including sustained, longer-term budgets which would allow for proper planned maintenance
• better protection of road maintenance budgets at local authority level
• a one-off injection of funds to tackle the backlog, and easier access to emergency funding to deal with winter damage. 

Mike Linley, chairman of the AIA, commented: ‘Although there has been a small increase in central government funding over recent years, it is a drop in the ocean compared to the amounts needed to stop the rot.

‘Local authority highways departments don’t want to throw away millions of pounds filling potholes and paying compensation claims – they want to implement cost-effective, planned maintenance programmes which would result in safer, longer-lasting road surfaces.

‘Extreme winter weather would not cause so much damage if our roads were fit for purpose in the first place. The consequences of an underfunded roads maintenance service are now writ large on our road network. These include compromised road safety and wasted time as road users are held up by unplanned road works.’