Government pledges additional £100 million for pothole repairs
Asphalt Industry Alliance welcomes extra funding but says longer-term solution is urgently needed
THE Government has announced the injection of an extra £100 million for distribution to local authorities to help deal with the potholes and damage caused to roads as a result of the severe cold spell in December 2010 and early in 2011.
The additional funding is largely the result of a concentrated and concerted campaign in which the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), 50% supported by MPA Asphalt, is a key player.
Colin Loveday, chairman of the AIA, said: ‘We welcome the additional funding being made available to help arrest the deterioration in local road condition and are encouraged that central government is addressing its responsibility to help localism work by providing much-needed funds.
‘Although £100 million of additional funding was granted in last year’s budget, the snow of February 2009 alone resulted in £400 million worth of damage, and the subsequent severe winter weather in 2010 will have significantly increased the amount of remedial work needed.’
Indeed, the recently published Road Condition Report (Department for Transport, 17 February 2011), which reports on road condition in 2009/10, acknowledges for the first time in years that road condition has started to deteriorate.
Mr Loveday said the fragile state of the country’s local road network, which makes it so susceptible to severe winter weather, was the result of underfunding by successive governments over many years, with short-term savings resulting in longer-term damage and higher repair bills, as well as the inconvenience and cost of increased congestion and the threat to road-user safety.
‘A longer-term solution to this perennial problem is urgently needed,’ he said.
THE Government has announced the injection of an extra £100 million for distribution to local authorities to help deal with the potholes and damage caused to roads as a result of the severe cold spell in December 2010 and early in 2011.
The additional funding is largely the result of a concentrated and concerted campaign in which the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), 50% supported by MPA Asphalt, is a key player.
Colin Loveday, chairman of the AIA, said: ‘We welcome the additional funding being made available to help arrest the deterioration in local road condition and are encouraged that central government is addressing its responsibility to help localism work by providing much-needed funds.
‘Although £100 million of additional funding was granted in last year’s budget, the snow of February 2009 alone resulted in £400 million worth of damage, and the subsequent severe winter weather in 2010 will have significantly increased the amount of remedial work needed.’
Indeed, the recently published Road Condition Report (Department for Transport, 17 February 2011), which reports on road condition in 2009/10, acknowledges for the first time in years that road condition has started to deteriorate.
Mr Loveday said the fragile state of the country’s local road network, which makes it so susceptible to severe winter weather, was the result of underfunding by successive governments over many years, with short-term savings resulting in longer-term damage and higher repair bills, as well as the inconvenience and cost of increased congestion and the threat to road-user safety.
‘A longer-term solution to this perennial problem is urgently needed,’ he said.
