The challenge of filling potholes saw one filled in England and Wales every 17 seconds last year, 1.86 million altogether and 20% more than 2017.
The good news is councils are filling more potholes. An extra £420m of government road maintenance cash resulted in a further 350,000 being filled.
The bad news is it is only stemming the decline in filling potholes in our rundown, worn-out roads.
The annual maintenance shortfall is still £657m across England and Wales, even with that extra cash and two years of 20% boosts for councils’ highway maintenance budgets.
The Asphalt Industry Alliance’s (AIA) annual local authority road maintenance (Alarm) survey revealed these shocking figures.
Councils nationally still need to spend £9.79bn over 10 years to bring all roads up to scratch.
It’s even worse in the east of England. The estimated catch-up cost is £654m and it would take 13 years.
Make do and mend
Patching potholes, not permanent fixes, is a problem and not the best value solution. Make-do-and-mend maintenance does not tackle the deep-down, underlying issues of our crumbling carriageways and years of under-funding.
We moan about roadworks and resurfacing schemes. The reality is that roads are resurfaced only every 67 years on average – once in your lifetime. A-roads carry the most traffic so are the priority for filling potholes. It’s sensible but not great news in rural counties with a network of country lanes.
Most motorists believe the condition of our roads is getting worse. Half have suffered some pothole damage so it’s not surprising. It’s expensive to repair a bent or cracked wheel, burst tyre or shattered suspension. The council may, or may not, foot the bill but take pictures and contact them to report the pothole. And ask when it was first reported as many councils have a target time for filling potholes.
My local BBC radio station interviewed me about the Alarm survey and state of our roads. I tried to be positive about the rise in filling potholes but the facts and figures speak for themselves.
Cracking up or scarred for life?
It’s difficult to be upbeat about trying to hold back the tide while baling out the boat with a leaking bucket.
That same day I did a long motorcycle ride with some biker friends. It reinforced how poor our roads have become.
It’s not just a case of filling potholes. There’s also:
Wide cracks between the lanes on dual carriageways which unsettle a motorcycle crossing them.
Peeling, scarred road surfaces at busy junctions.
Road markings and direction arrows worn away, confusing drivers and riders.
General surface debris – loose chippings, stones and bits of asphalt.
The Beast from the East blitzed the country last year. Thankfully, we’ve escaped the big freeze and snow so far that year. The mild weather is helping to prevent further road damage.
Harsh winter weather wrecks roads. Surface water seeps into cracks, freezes and expands. It’s like prising the asphalt apart with a crowbar.
In conclusion, the government must give councils another budget boost for road maintenance. They also need early notice to plan a priority programme of filling potholes properly to have any hope of plugging the holes in the road and their stretched, strained maintenance budgets.
Visit the Asphalt Industry Association website at http://asphaltuk.org/