WHOLE LOT OF HOLES UNDERMINES ROAD STRUCTURE
Report sounds ALARM as 30 Channel Tunnels of trenches1 add to
pothole burden for highways departments
The 13th Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) Survey,
published on 2 April, includes for the first time figures on the number
of road openings by utility companies. These have increased from just
over 2 million last year to nearly 2.5 million across England and Wales,
averaging 16,500 trenches on every English authority’s roads. There
is considerable concern in the industry over the level of longer term
damage to the road infrastructure caused by deep trenching, as well as
the need it creates for premature resurfacing, both of which increase
the financial pressures on local authority highway maintenance budgets.
The publisher of the survey, the Asphalt Industry Alliance, is calling for
the ringfencing of road maintenance budgets for the future and an immediate injection of funding to address the shortfall.
The 2008 ALARM Survey also records the best part of a million4 potholes across the country; a shortfall in highway maintenance budgets of over £1 billion; an 11 year backlog of maintenance work; and local authorities estimating that they receive only half the budget that they need to keep their roads in reasonable condition.
Jim Crick, Chairman of the Asphalt Industry Alliance, comments: “After several
years of reporting a bleak picture I would like to be making a positive statement
about an improving situation. Despite some increase in central government funding
over recent years, it seems that highways maintenance is still suffering from
historically being treated as the Cinderella service.
“Roads are a vital asset and our most valuable one. We all depend on them every day
and it’s time the underfunding of their maintenance was addressed. There are so many
demands on highways maintenance budgets now that it is almost impossible to keep
pace with them,” continues Crick. “Trenches dug by utility and service companies are
a necessary evil but reduce longer term road life by around 30 per cent5. The ALARM
figures concentrate the mind on why regulations now available through the Traffic Management
Act, to co-ordinate and control such openings, should be strictly enforced.”
Constant roadworks and patchwork quilt surfaces add up to poor conditions for
road users, adds Kevin Clinton, Head of Road Safety at the Royal Society for the
Prevention of Accidents. “Roads shouldn’t be obstacle courses,” he says. “Good
road surfaces are an essential part of the highway safety system. They help drivers
stop more quickly when they have to brake sharply, reduce the risk of skidding, and,
in particular, they make safe riding much easier for motorcyclists and cyclists.”
The ALARM Survey report is downloadable from www.alarm-survey.co.uk
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Notes to editors:
The Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) Survey 2008, conducted by the Asphalt Industry Alliance, is based on information supplied by 64 per cent of local authorities in England and Wales and relates to 2007/08 budgets. Local authorities are responsible for 95 per cent of Britain’s roads.
1. 2.5 million trenches equates to 150 million cubic metres, based on an average-sized trench.
2. The term “utility trenches” is used to describe road openings created to repair or install cables and
pipes for companies supplying services such as electricity, gas, water, and telecoms.
3. £53 million was paid out in compensation claims for damage to vehicles or road traffic accidents due to
road structural conditions across England (inc London) and Wales in 2006/07 and the estimated cost of
staff and outsourced help in processing such claims was £12 million
4. The total number of potholes filled across England (inc London) and Wales during 2006/07, based on
average figures per authority is 853,614; the total number reported was 862,267.
5. Two reports conducted by TRL on behalf of The Department for Transport and County Surveyors’
Society (CSS) in 2003. A further report funded by CSS is currently ongoing.
Further information, interviews, photography:
A range of high resolution colour images is available on request
Kate Newman/Helen Melhuish tel.: 020 7730 1100 or 020 7730 2212
AIA Press Office mobile: 07952 071 014 or 07771 882 604
HMPR, 14A Eccleston Street email: asphalt@hmpr.co.uk
London SW1W 9LT fax: 020 7730 2213
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