Pothole Repair Bill Tops £18bn

If all of the potholes across local roads in England and Wales were fixed, it would cost an estimated £18.6bn.

Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) – the body overseeing road surfacing – research found that just 51% of the local road network was reported as in good condition.

The news comes as the RAC issued a warning to drivers to be wary of potholes that are being hidden by near constant rain in the early stages of this year, a weather pattern that has seen potholes filled with water.

A report from the roadside assistance organisation found 225 calls a day in February, on average, were reported, nearly three-and-a-half times the 66-a-day seen in the same month last year.

The deterioration of the road network can be attributed to more severe weather conditions as previously small cracks in the road surface are expanded by water seeping in and freezing, resulting in the crack widening. Persistent traffic then develops the issue into a hole.

Despite the Department for Transport announcing a total of £7.3bn in funding for local road maintenance over the next four years, RAC Head of Policy Simon Williams urged councils to do more to address drainage concerns.

He said: “While this amount of rain is hard for the saturated land to cope with, the RAC suspects that poor drainage may also be to blame, possibly as a result of councils not carrying out as much of these works as they have done in the past.

“We urge the Government to hold councils to account on drainage works, just as they’ve done with preventative road maintenance which stops the formation of potholes.

“The mantra for better local roads is straightforward: improve drainage so water doesn’t sit on roads, fix potholes permanently, seal roads with preventative treatments like surface dressing and microsurfacing to stop water getting in and causing damage, and resurface roads that have gone beyond the point of reasonable repair.”

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