The state of the nations roads

A step in the right direction but the Chancellor’s additional £2.5 billion pothole pledge while welcome, is not enough to fix the rising backlog of repairs or plug the gap in council’s road maintenance budgets. That’s the conclusion of this year’s Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey, published today (March 24th) by the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA).

Now in its 25th campaigning year, the ALARM report shows there’s no silver lining. They say the ‘green shoots’ of improving conditions reported in 2019 have not been sustained, with local authorities having to cope with an average drop in overall highway maintenance budgets of 16%. And, it’s a triple whammy for the road surface and structure. Road maintenance has received a smaller bite of a smaller piece of a smaller cake as local councils have to spend more on things like bridges, cycleways and drainage works.

Aston spoke to David Giles, director at A.I.A (Asphalt Industry Alliance) to discuss the report in further detail.