Council Road Maintenance Not Meeting Targets
In a concerning revelation, council road maintenance in England has plummeted by 45% in the 2022/23 fiscal year compared to five years ago, resulting in 3,366 fewer miles undergoing any form of improvement work, according to analysis of recent government statistics.
These figures disclose that 764 miles of A roads underwent strengthening, resurfacing, or preservation in 2022/23, marking a 37% decline (458 miles) from the 1,222 miles in 2017/2018.
The number of minor roads categorised as B, C, and unclassified dwindled from 6,288 to 3,380 over the past five years, constituting a substantial drop of 46% (2,908 miles).
Private and motor trade drivers will no doubt be alarmed that merely 4% of the 17,853 miles of A roads maintained by councils in England received resurfacing or life-extending preservation treatment in the last financial year.
Delving into specific types of road maintenance, councils entirely resurfaced 1,223 miles of all road types, reflecting a modest 9% increase from 2021/22 but a notable 22% decline from six years ago. In contrast, tyre fitters and dealers might be interested in learning about preservation treatments, such as surface dressing and micro surfacing, to prolong road life, which hit their lowest level in five years!
The data reveals that only 2,698 miles of roads underwent preservation treatment in the last financial year, marking a significant 50% decline from the 5,345 miles treated five years ago and a 25% decrease compared to 2021/22.
Regionally, more than a third (35%) of the 158 road authorities in the latest data failed to conduct any road surfacing, while six-in-ten (61%) performed no preservation maintenance work. Over the last 12 months, the average length of roads resurfaced for all authorities was 17 miles, with preservation work covering 28 miles.
Despite a challenging scenario, Kent emerged as a leader for two consecutive years by resurfacing the most A road miles (26 miles). Staffordshire excelled in preservation work, treating 36 miles of its A road network.
The RAC’s analysis comes after a pre-Christmas period marked by road defects, leading to the highest number of pothole-related breakdowns for their breakdown recovery patrols in any fourth quarter since 2019.
Highways authorities monitor road surface defects and technology company Metricell were part of the task force to introduce Stan, a free mobile app encouraging private and motor trade drivers to report road issues. Stan allows users to report defects through photos or videos, using AI to identify and compile a national road map of surface issues on the Stan website.
A spokesperson for the RAC said: “We suspect this means road maintenance in England has reached a new low point – a sorry state of affairs considering how car-dependent the country is.
It’s not just councils bearing the brunt of damaged roads – pothole repairs can also be costly for drivers”.
For anyone interested, Stan can be downloaded on the App Store and via Google Play.
