Potholes and roadworks: Brits are fed up

 Patti Smith fans by Blondin Rikard is licensed below CC BY 2. 

 The Remedy did a song about this by Chris Eason is licensed beneath CC BY 2. 

 sad eyes by hannah k is licensed below CC BY 2. 

• the condition of the roads,


• the top quality of repairs


• and the speed with which they’re carried out

Just 30% of those polled stated they had been happy, and the difficulty is worst for these in London and the South East.

 HA1-000957 by Highways Agency is licensed below CC BY 2. 

‘Ludicrous’

Pulling no punches, Margaret Hodge MP (the Public Accounts Committee chair) stated: “It appears ludicrous that in 2010 the Department (of Transport) cut road upkeep budgets by £1.2 billion over the 4 years from April 2011, but then it has intermittently given £1.1 billion extra funding on 9 separate occasions for various reasons, like in response to flooding or winter harm to the roads.

“The Division need to see that prevention is better than cure. It costs £52 to fill in a pothole, or £70 in London, yet it fees over £30 million to spend and approach compensation claims from road customers for damages arising from poor road circumstances.”

An ounce of prevention…

“there is an inadequate understanding of how diverse sorts of infrastructure deteriorate over time”

The committee has taken the Department of Transport (DoT) to process about the findings, and says it ought to “use the way it allocates its funding to incentivise efficiency and collaboration and it should not fund poor performance.”

Its report says: “A lack of information and understanding of road infrastructure and the costs of maintenance hinders selection-generating on when and exactly where it is ideal to invest the cash.”

“There are too a lot of gaps in highways authorities’ info about what road infrastructure assets they have and what condition they are in and there is an inadequate understanding of how diverse sorts of infrastructure (apart from road surfaces) deteriorate more than time. Some highways authorities have taken actions to improve their info but additional work is required.”

In a nutshell, the report says the DoT must function with local authorities to anticipate difficulties and carry out preventative work, rather than just reacting to problems soon after they happen.

• Inform us exactly where you live, and the troubles you face, in the comments below.


• Send us a pothole pic, if you can – using a glove or something comparable to give a sense of scale

Potholes and roadworks: Brits are fed up

Potholes "are road security priority" - Confused.com

29/04/13

By David Clement

Drivers frustrated by the increasing issue of potholes on Britain’;s roads should not necessarily blame their regional authority, according to investigation by a road security charity.

Improving road surfaces and lowering the number of potholes is the best road security priority for councillors, according to the survey carried out by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM).

But the majority of nearby councillors said price range cuts are having a unfavorable influence on roads.

3-quarters (74 per cent) of councillors placed potholes in their leading 5 road-security priorities.

Yet 61 per cent consider the budgets for repairing them will reduce or remain the identical.

Fifty-8 per cent of regional councillors agree that price range cuts are obtaining a damaging effect on roads and road security, with 1 in 4 strongly agreeing.

And even though councillors named transport as a priority, half of them thought their transport spending budget would reduce in the subsequent year.

The charity’;s chief executive, Simon Best, mentioned the benefits showed the key political parties provide the electorate various transport priorities.

Conservative councillors are much more likely to focus on road building, road surfaces and automobile parking.

Labour councillors seem to be much more most likely to prioritise road security and the use of public transport.

Liberal Democrats are much more likely to concentrate on cycling and walking.

Some 59 per cent of councillors assistance 20mph speed limits (with 15 per cent supporting 20mph for most urban roads) and 29 per cent think the government’;s policies have been bad for road security.

IAM located those elected in the north of England have been more likely to be anticipate cuts, with their counterparts in the south much less most likely to report reductions in their transport budgets.

Mr Greatest stated it was excellent that so a lot of local councillors identified potholes as a priority, as this reflects the concern felt by motorists.

He called on councillors to put up a stronger fight to shield road safety budgets.

And he warned: “More have to be completed to repair our roads just before the backlog of repairs becomes unmanageable.”

Potholes "are road security priority" - Confused.com

Fuel duty pledge could tackle potholes

8/7/14

By Ian Barnsley

The Coalition could raise another £1 billion to devote on fixing the roads of England and Wales, if it have been to set aside an extra 2p a litre of the fuel duty it receives from the motoring public.

That is the view of the Regional Government Association (LGA), an organisation that represents over 370 regional authorities.

It believes investing the cash would be enough to repair all the potholes on the roads inside the next 10 years.

A current guarantee of millions of pounds of new funding to boost the condition of the road ne2rk is only enough to ‘patch up’; the method, and effectively quick of the money the councils would want to guarantee routes are in a very good situation for years to come, the LGA claims.

£12bn needed to repair road ne2rk

It says England and Wales need to have £12 billion to fully repair the road ne2rk, and the figure has risen by £1.5 billion in the final 12 months.

This is because of years of underfunding and some particularly cold and wet winters in the last couple of years.

The government announced in June that it was pumping an additional £168 million into the nation’;s road infrastructure to make needed repairs, and that the cash would be offered to 148 neighborhood authorities.

This has been described as the largest investment in the roads considering that the 1970s, and the Department for Transport expects the income to repair much more than 3 million potholes and crumbling road surfaces.

‘Roads in disrepair’;

Councils are “trapped in an endless cycle of patching up our deteriorating ne2rk”, according to the chairman of the LGA’;s Economy and Transport Board, Councillor Peter Box.

“Our roads are in such disrepair that it will now take a lot more than a decade and £12 billion to bring them up to scratch,” he said.

“Tackling this ever-increasing national repair bill need to be a priority and the government can do this by injecting an further £1 billion a year into roads upkeep – funded by investing 2 pence a litre from current fuel duty.

“Motorists spend billions to the Treasury every year in fuel duty when they fill up their automobile at the pumps only to then have to drive on roads that are decaying right after decades of underfunding.

“They deserve roads match for the 21st century,” Councillor Box mentioned.

Fuel duty pledge could tackle potholes

Fuel duty pledge could tackle potholes

8/7/14

By Ian Barnsley

The Coalition could raise another £1 billion to commit on fixing the roads of England and Wales, if it were to set aside an extra 2p a litre of the fuel duty it receives from the motoring public.

That is the view of the Nearby Government Association (LGA), an organisation that represents more than 370 local authorities.

It believes investing the money would be enough to repair all the potholes on the roads inside the next 10 years.

A current guarantee of millions of pounds of new funding to enhance the condition of the road ne2rk is only adequate to ‘patch up’; the method, and properly quick of the money the councils would need to guarantee routes are in a very good condition for years to come, the LGA claims.

£12bn necessary to repair road ne2rk

It says England and Wales need to have £12 billion to totally repair the road ne2rk, and the figure has risen by £1.5 billion in the final 12 months.

This is because of years of underfunding and some especially cold and wet winters in the last few years.

The government announced in June that it was pumping an additional £168 million into the nation’;s road infrastructure to make necessary repairs, and that the money would be accessible to 148 nearby authorities.

This has been described as the biggest investment in the roads given that the 1970s, and the Department for Transport expects the cash to repair far more than 3 million potholes and crumbling road surfaces.

‘Roads in disrepair’;

Councils are “trapped in an endless cycle of patching up our deteriorating ne2rk”, according to the chairman of the LGA’;s Economy and Transport Board, Councillor Peter Box.

“Our roads are in such disrepair that it will now take much more than a decade and £12 billion to bring them up to scratch,” he stated.

“Tackling this ever-growing national repair bill must be a priority and the government can do this by injecting an additional £1 billion a year into roads maintenance – funded by investing 2 pence a litre from existing fuel duty.

“Motorists spend billions to the Treasury every single year in fuel duty when they fill up their auto at the pumps only to then have to drive on roads that are decaying following decades of underfunding.

“They deserve roads fit for the 21st century,” Councillor Box stated.

Fuel duty pledge could tackle potholes

Fuel duty repair for potholes?

If you’ve ever driven down a road that’s pitted with potholes – and surely you have – then you will know that it’s annoying.

It can also operate out costly. Professionals reckon potholes are to blame for up to 1 in 10 mechanical failures, costing motorists an estimated £730 million a year.

Bright idea

So how’s this for an notion? The Regional Government Association (LGA), which represents much more than 370 councils in England and Wales, is calling on the government to invest some of the billions it collects in fuel duty back into road maintenance.

Fuel duty

Fuel duty is currently 57.95p a litre and swells the Treasury’s coffers by a whopping £33 billion a year.

There’s no require to increase fuel duty below the LGA’s program. It just desires the government to invest just 2p a litre of duty on road maintenance – around £1 billion a year – which it calculates would render our roads pothole-cost-free by 2025

Road functions

“Our roads are in such disrepair that it will now take a lot more than a decade and £12 billion to bring them up to scratch.”

Cllr Peter Box, chair of the LGA’s Economy and Transport Board, does not mince his words: “Our roads are in such disrepair that it will now take a lot more than a decade and £12 billion to bring them up to scratch. Tackling this ever-increasing national repair bill should be a priority and the Government can do this by injecting an additional £1 billion a year into road maintenance – funded by investing 2p a litre from current fuel duty.

“Motorists spend billions to the Treasury every single year in fuel duty when they fill up their auto at the pumps only to then have to drive on roads that are decaying after decades of underfunding. They deserve roads fit for the 21st century.”

Poor circumstances

Our roads are definitely in a sorry state: virtually 20% of roads in England are classed as in ‘poor’ situation. So perhaps the LGA is onto one thing.

It may well also win the assistance of motorists. A current survey by the RAC identified that 85% of drivers want more funds to be spent on enhancing neighborhood roads.

And let’s not forget that the circumstance is only going to get worse as much more of us jump in the vehicle. The government’s own projections recommend a 40% enhance in nearby visitors by 2040.

Repair backlog

It’s effortless to blame local councils for the pothole issue, but they currently fix about 2 million potholes a year.

But there’s the query of regardless of whether potholes are getting patched or appropriately repaired – and whether or not entirely stretches of road are being brought up to the required common provided contemporary targeted traffic loads.

There’s also the problem of funding. Road upkeep is underfunded by about 55% or £1 billion a year and there is now a £12 billion backlog of road repairs.

So you can realize why councils are struggling to maintain up, especially following the recent harsh winters and year-round wet weather that plays havoc with our roads.

Compensation claims

If all this weren’t poor sufficient, local councils fork out millions in compensation claims due to poor roads – £31 million at the last count in 2103, a 50% improve on 2011.

In other words, councils have to pay compensation claims since they can not spend to repair the potholes.

Is that as ludicrous as it sounds? There must be a far better way to spend taxpayers’ cash.

Rapid fix

The Government not too long ago gave councils a share of a £168 million fund to fix potholes. The Department for Transport also offered an extra £103.5 million to flood-affected councils for road repairs in March.

But it’s hardly enough – and only pays for a swift repair rather than a longer-term answer to our crumbling road ne2rk.

Something clearly has to be completed as it’s not only motorists that finish up in a hole – it’s taxpayers’ income, as well.

Fuel duty repair for potholes?