Road maintenance funds must be accelerated, not delayed

Previously we have welcomed the announcement of further details around the government's pledge to spend an extra £8bn on maintaining our road network.

It is therefore disappointing to learn that the bulk of the promised funding is now scheduled to be made available towards the end of the decade, with only £300m having been released to date.

According to the Asphalt Industry Alliance, more than 100,000 miles of road, representing more than half the network, have less than 15 years of structural life remaining.
This raises key questions about how fit for purpose our road network is without significant intervention. Without intervention, this problem is going to get worse and become a greater burden on the taxpayer in the years to come.

Ensuring that local authorities are adequately equipped and resourced to tackle the backlog of road maintenance issues is essential. To support the UK supply chain and in order to halt the decline of our road network, release of road maintenance funds needs to be accelerated, not delayed.

Beyond this, a fair longer-term strategy and funding settlement for local authorities must be agreed upon.

Without practical, long term thinking, we'll be continuing to discuss short-term fixes on our roads, rather than long term investment.