Government urged to focus on road maintenance rather than new projects

David Ross, Editor
Tue, 01 Aug 2023

The Transport Committee has called on the Department for Transport (DfT) to prioritise day-to-day road maintenance over complex expansion projects.

A new report says that expensive enhancement projects should be reconsidered with more funds made available for maintenance and renewal of the ageing road infrastructure.

The Transport Committee's Chair, Iain Stewart MP, expressed concerns over the overspending and under-delivery between 2015 and 2020 by National Highways, the agency responsible for road investments.

Despite these issues, National Highways became even more ambitious in its planning from 2020 to 2025, leading to further delays in project completion.

The National Audit Office has found that by 2025, National Highways will have completed less work on road enhancements and at a higher cost than originally planned.  

"Schemes have continually been pushed back, adding to confusion and uncertainty. The evidence we received indicates that the majority of road users want the Government to prioritise keeping the network in good, safe condition. An adequate proportion of the strategic roads budget needs to be prioritised for such maintenance work," he said.

The strategic road network (SRN) is 4500 miles of motorways and major A-roads, connecting major towns and cities. It is also the most heavily used part of the national road network, carrying a third of all traffic and two-thirds of all freight.

"The Department should introduce more robust measures to assess deliverability when setting a Road Investment Strategy and must also produce a plan for how it will better anticipate and deal with risks to timely delivery," added Stewart.

The Transport Committee report also calls on the DfT to provide a strategy on how the strategic road network will meet the needs of electric car drivers in the future, with the 2030 deadline for the end of sales of new petrol and diesel cars looming fast.

Ask HJ

Why don't motorways get potholes?

Our weather is frequently blamed for causing many of the potholes we're currently subjected to. If that is the case, why do motorways not suffer similarly especially with the high volume of traffic?

If you haven't experienced a pothole on a motorway then count yourself lucky, but local roads suffer more from potholes because they are built to a lower standard than motorways. Urban roads aren't generally built to cope with high volumes of traffic and heavy goods vehicles, whereas motorways have to be able to handle 44 tonnes of HGVs day and night. It's also worth mentioning that local roads are the responsibility of local councils, whereas motorways are looked after by Highways England, who likely have access to a bigger budget.

Answered by David Ross

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