Potholes in England and Wales will take 11 years and £14billion to repair

21 March 2023, 17:20

By Alice Dear

New survey information from the Asphalt Industry Alliance has revealed shocking findings regarding the state of the Britain's roads.

Potholes across England and Wales would take 11 years and £14billion to repair.

This is according to a survey by The Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) which was published by the Asphalt Industry Alliance, revealing serious issues across the roads of Britain.

The survey showed that local authority highway teams in England and Wales only received two-thirds of the funds needed to prevent further damage to our roads.

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According to the results, there has been a 20 per cent decline of current carriageway funding levels compared to what is needed to prevent further decline.

The survey found it would take £14billion and 11 years to bring the roads in England and Wales to a reasonable standard. Picture: Getty

Even with the correct funding, it would take 11 years and around £14billion to get the roads to a reasonably steady state.

Rick Green, chair of the Asphalt Industry Alliance, reacted to the findings by saying: "Without a change to the funding structure and the amount allocated, local road conditions can’t – and won’t – improve."

According to the results, there has been a 20 per cent decline of current carriageway funding levels compared to what is needed to prevent further decline. Picture: Getty

He added: "The local roads are in an absolutely shocking condition and they are getting worse. They are getting close to really problematic conditions and hopefully, politicians will decide to allocate more funding to local roads.

"The AIA is currently developing a paper alongside the All Party Parliamentary Group [for Better Roads] and we are calling for ringfencing of money for carriageways.

"If we can’t have more money some ringfencing would definitely be a better solution as well as a longer-term settlement for the spending. So, if we don’t have more money at least we know what we have so we can plan it better."