Road repairs fall to five-year low

Richard Aucock, Contributor
Wed, 13 Sept 2023

England’s roads are increasingly being neglected with new figures showing the number of miles of road resurfacing has dropped to a five-year low.

Just 1123 miles of road were either resurfaced in 2021-22, analysis of government data by the RAC has revealed.

This is 29% down on figures from 2017-18, equating to 465 fewer miles of road receiving maintenance.

There was an even bigger 34% fall in life-extending road surface dressing, dropping to 3,551 miles in 2021-22.

And of the 153 roads authorities analysed, three in 10 failed to carry out any resurfacing work at all in the past year – and more than half carried out no road surface dressing.

"These figures paint an incredibly stark picture of road maintenance in England and confirm our worst fears about the overall decline in the state of the country’s roads," says RAC head of policy Simon Williams.

"It’s abundantly clear that councils in so many areas are barely scratching the surface when it comes to getting their roads up to a reasonable standard."

"The fact that such as large proportion haven’t done any surface dressing or resurfacing at all over a 12-month period really does say it all."

The RAC is now calling on the government to change the way it funds road maintenance. It wants a proportion of the money raised through fuel duty to be ringfenced, which would give councils certainty of having longer-term funding.

The Asphalt Industry Alliance estimates that the amount of money needed just to clear the road maintenance backlog has now increased to more than £12 million.

It will now take 11 years to clear the English road resurfacing backlog.

"Drivers contribute billions of pounds to the treasury every year, so it’s extremely frustrating that they continue to have to endure substandard road surfaces," added Williams.

The organisation is also urging local authorities to take a more preventative approach, increasing the use of road surface dressing – a more cost-effective solution that can help prevent the need for full resurfacing.

"We also continue to call on the government to increase the roads funding settlements for councils – not least because England’s major roads receive seven times what local roads are given, despite the fact there are seven times more miles of minor roads."

Ask HJ

What's the best car for poor condition roads as well as a motorway commute?

I live in a rural location which means lots of rough roads and potholes, but I commute a 70- mile round trip to work on a motorway, often at rush hour. I don't do much city driving. I want something around four years old, economical and small that can cope with the bad roads but has speed to overtake for around £12,000. I initially looked at SUVs and test drove a Diesel Dacia Duster 1.5 dCi but it felt light and not in touch with the road. It was a bit lacklustre. Now I think i want a small car like an Aygo, an Ignis or Citigo but I am overwhelmed by the varying reviews. Can you advise?

This is quite a difficult set of attributes to find in a single car. You say you want something small and economical like a Toyota Aygo or Suzuki Ignis, but cars like this don't tend to come with powerful engines for overtaking, nor are they best-suited to motorways and rough rural roads. We would suggest a small SUV with a diesel engine, giving you the ability to cope with rough roads but with a useful turn of speed and good fuel economy. For your budget we would look at the Mitsubishi ASX, as it is relatively compact, comes with a choice of two- or four-wheel-drive and 1.8-litre or 2.2-litre diesels engines depending on the year. Alternatively you could try the Suzuki SX4 S-Cross, which is also available with a diesel engine and is well equipped. if you want something smaller, look at a Suzuki Ignis.

Answered by David Ross

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