APRIL 2014 Cllr Peter Box


Chair, Local Government Association’s economy and transport board


“Councils have long warned that our already dilapidated road network could not cope with another extreme winter and the unprecedented recent fl ooding experienced across the country has left behind a trail of destruction to our highways. Our roads are now in such disrepair that it will take more than a decade and £12 billion to bring them up to scratch.


“Keeping our roads safe is one of the most important jobs councils do and they have worked hard to fi x another two million potholes this year despite deep funding cuts and multi-million pound compensation costs for pothole damage. The government has responded to our calls for extra funding to repair our roads in recent months but it is simply not enough to free councils trapped in an endless cycle of only being able to patch up our deteriorating network. This will always be more expensive than longer-term preventative work.


“This country is now facing a roads crisis escalating at an alarming pace with every bout of severe weather and following years of underfunding. The government’s own traffi c projections predict a potential increase in local traffi c of more than 40% by 2040. This further highlights the urgent need for increased and consistent investment in the widespread resurfacing projects we desperately need if we’re ever to see a long-term improvement.”


Nick Baveystock


Director general, Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE)


“Government’s commitment to providing our strategic roads network with long-term funding certainty is a positive step, however local roads remain in a poor state, exacerbated by the severe weather events seen over recent years. Clearly in this economic climate government is faced with diffi cult choices on funding, but we believe there is scope for a more ambitious joint central and local government programme to fi nally clear the maintenance backlog. Approaches in Wales and south east England are delivering improvements, and while there is no ‘one size fi ts all’ scheme, lessons can and must be applied. Government should also commit to a regime which moves from costly quick-fi x work to planned, preventative maintenance – addressing road defects properly and on a long term basis.”


www.highwaysmagazine.co.uk


Howard Robinson


Chief executive, Road Surface Treatments Association (RSTA)


“The odd funding announcement here and there does little to address the real problem which is the need for a fundamental rethink of funding availability that sees local authorities having budgets that enable long-term, cost-effective road maintenance rather than short-term expensive patch-ups.


“The fundamental problem is that decades of under-funding have forced local authorities to undertake short-term expensive fi xes rather than implement programmes of cost-effective long-term maintenance. The result is the £12bn bill we now face to just get the road network into good condition.”


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