Pothole Action Fund just ‘papering over the cracks’

Asphalt Industry Alliance responds to Pothole Action Fund figures announced earlier this week

RESPONDING to the Department for Transport’s Pothole Action Fund figures announced earlier this week, Rick Green, chairman of the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), said that while any additional funding for road maintenance would be appreciated by hard-pressed local authorities’ highway teams, the £100 million extra for the Pothole Action Fund for England would not do much to tackle the country’s failing roads.

‘It’s just papering over the cracks,’ he said. ‘Our Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey 2018, launched just last week, reported that English authorities need an additional £389 million a year just to keep the carriageway in reasonable order. And, more than £8 billion would be needed to carry out a one-time catch-up to bring local roads in England up to scratch.’

Mr Green added: ‘With one in five roads now classed as structurally poor, the most efficient way to deal with the problem of our failing roads is to provide local authorities with the resources they need to maintain them properly.’