England’s roads are crumbling amid potholes (Picture: SWNS)
Roads in the UK are near a ‘breaking point’ with a record £16.3 billion needed to repair the scourge of potholes.
Potholes are damaging vehicles up and down the country, leaving drivers, cyclists and bikers in despair.
Councils in England and Wales are expected to fix 2,000,000 potholes this financial year alone, according to a new report.
However, most of them do not have the money to do so, the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) found.
Just 47% of local road miles were rated as being in good condition, with 36% adequate and 17% poor.
Cash-strapped councils need to cough up £16,300,000,000 to keep the roads safe, which is one of their legal responsibilities.
Potholes are up by 43% in England and Wales, compared with 1,400,000 during the previous 12 months.
The number of potholes now is the highest since 2015/16 when 2,200,000 were fixed.
The survey found that average highway maintenance budgets increased by 2.3% in the 2023/24 financial year compared with the previous 12 months.
But the impact of rising costs due to inflation meant local authorities ‘effectively experienced a real-terms cut’, the report warned.
Record-breaking pothole bill
The bleakest situation with potholes is in the South West, with £2,510,000,000 needed to pay for the backlog repairs.
The cost of pothole backlog in England (Picture: Metro.co.uk)
A total of 14,000 miles in the area need resurfacing in the next 15 years – meaning 46% of the region’s roads could fail.
South East needs £2,410,000,000 to keep the region’s roads safe.
More than 12,800 miles of South East roads need to be ‘practically rebuilt’ within the next 15 years, the AIA found.
In Wales, councils faced a £677.3 million bill to fix potholes.
Edmund King, the president of AIA, said: ‘Our breakdown data shows that 2023 was the worst year for potholes for five years.
‘Arguably the road network is a local council’s biggest asset, but not enough planned investment and repairs are being made to make streets safer and smoother for drivers and those on two wheels.’
Potholes are causing havoc across the UK (Picture: Getty Images)
The government has pledged £8,300,000,000 in extra funding over 11 years to fix potholes in England.
The money was freed up after the decision to scrap the extension of HS2 north of Birmingham.
But the backlog of repairs stands at almost double the money the government has promised, the Local Government Association said.
AIA chairman Rick Green said: ‘Local authorities have a bit more money to spend this year but the impact of rising costs due to inflation means they have actually been able to do less with it.
‘Couple this with the effects of the extreme weather we are increasingly facing, and the result is that the rate at which local roads are suffering is accelerating towards breaking point.’
How to report potholes
Many councils use the FixMyStreet online reporting tool for despairing road users to flag up defects.
The portal shows all reports and you can follow its status.
Potholes on a motorway or a major A-road should be reported to National Highways on 0300 123 5000 or online.
In some cases, unlucky drivers or cyclists might be able to claim compensation for broken vehicles from the council, breakdown service RAC said.
What causes potholes?
The cursed potholes form when moisture gets trapped in the cracks on the road surface.
It then expands when temperatures freeze.
The holes get bigger as vehicles drive over them and damage the structure below the top layer.
Repeated cycles of freeze-thaw and wet-dry make potholes worse, RAC warned.
RAC claimed the rise in potholes comes after struggling councils did reactive repairs it labelled the ‘patch and dash’ approach.
It said councils rush to repair individual potholes, sometimes in wet weather, meaning potholes soon reappear.
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