A major new survey of the UK’s road surfaces has revealed that Britain’s roads are only getting resurfaced on average every 92 years.
The Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) revealed in its Alarm report that some unclassified roads are only getting resurfaced once every 132 years, whilst they advise that a road should be resurfaced every 10 to 20 years to maintain appropriate levels of road safety.
“The most staggering finding from this year’s ALARM survey has to be the sheer scale of local roads in England and Wales that need imminent repair,” said AIA Chairman, Rick Green. “It’s unfathomable to think that you could drive almost around the world on the length of local authority roads that could fail if they are not fixed in the next 12 months – but that is the reality.
“We accept that there is no magic wand to wave, nor is there a bottomless pot of money to tap into. There are difficult choices to be made at both local and national level but the government needs to provide adequate funding for a well maintained and safe local road network if it wants to support communities and drive economic growth.”
With the AIA report also claiming that the number of potholes filled each year is declining, the Government is launching an inquiry into how better maintain the state of the UK’s roads.
Lilian Greenwood MP, Chair of the Transport Committee said: “Our inquiry aims to investigate the situation in England, including current funding constraints and potential alternative models that could offer a solution.
“We know that this is a high priority issue among the public and I hope our inquiry will help put the onus on the Government to address it sooner rather than later.”