The backlog of repairs on pothole-plagued local roads in England and Wales has soared by almost a quarter in 12 months due to a lack of long-term investment, according to a new report. A survey of councils by the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) suggested it would cost £12.64 billion to return local roads to a condition from which cost-effective maintenance would be possible.
This is up from £10.24 billion one year ago. The AIA’s annual local authority road maintenance (Alarm) survey indicated that the proportion of council budgets allocated to highway maintenance has fallen during the 2021/22 financial year compared with the previous 12 months.
The proportion has fallen from 5.5% to 5.1% in England (excluding London), from 2.0% to 1.6% in London, and from 4.5% to 3.0% in Wales. Almost one in five local roads could need to be rebuilt in the next five years due to their condition, which is nearly 37,000 miles of road.
