POTHOLE repairs in Warwickshire have received a funding boost – but an asphalt industry body says it will not be enough.
Warwickshire County Council (WCC) welcomed an additional £2.8million announced in the Chancellor’s Spring Budget to repair potholes around the county – a share of an extra £200million allocated to local authorities across England to maintain and improve their roads.
But the Asphalt Industry Alliance’s (AIA) Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey found local authorities across the Midlands would have needed an extra £9million each on average last year just to reach their own target road conditions.
AIA Chair Rick Green said: “A share of the additional £200million one-off payment, while welcome, is just not enough. It will do little to improve overall structural conditions and stem further decline.”
Nicholas Lyes, Head of Roads Policy at the RAC, added: “Council funding is now so inadequate that almost one-in-five roads have under five years’ structural life left. The gap between the money councils have and what they need is widening.
“We’ve long campaigned for a more sustainable form of funding that allows councils to replace roads that are at the end of their useful lives. The Government’s emphasis on filling potholes is simply treating the symptoms, and not dealing with the root cause.”
A WCC spokesperson said the council had a national reputation for swift responses to potholes and was consistently in the top 10 of authorities in the country for customer satisfaction with road repair and condition, according to the National Highways and Transport Survey (NHTS).
Scott Tompkins, WCC’s Assistant Director with responsibility for Highways, said: “Our Highways Teams across Warwickshire work hard to ensure excellent transport infrastructure. This boost in funding for pothole repairs is a welcome addition to our capacity to deliver this kind of remedial work.
“One of the reasons that the county is so effective at tackling potholes is information on where they are so that we can carry out inspections and triage remedial action. The public plays an integral role in this and their input is key.”
Visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/reporthighwayproblem to report highways faults including potholes.
Visit www.asphaltuk.org to read the full ALARM survey.
