Highway authorities increase budgets and stitch-in-time repairs

Local Authorities are increasing their highway maintenance budgets and spending a bigger slice of them on preventative repairs, according to a new report.

However, despite a shift to preventative maintenance over the last three years, the size of the backlog of repairs remains stubbornly unchanged suggesting a need for greater investment given severe weather, according to the annual survey published by the Asphalt Industry Alliance.

On average, despite reduced Whitehall grant, highway authorities in England outside the capital reported they had increased their budget for road maintenance by nine per cent to £20.1m in 2012/13. They spent a bigger proportion of this, 50% compared to 48% the year before, on preventative maintenance such as resurfacing. They also filled in an increased number of potholes following damage from severe winter weather and flooding, indicating that authorities have reduced overheads in order to increase overall operational spending on both reactive and preventative repairs.

A shift to preventative repairs over the last three years – particularly pronounced in Wales, where it has increased from 32% of budgets in the 2011 survey to 52% now – has made little impact on the cost of tackling the deterioration of the network. The average amount highways managers estimate is needed to clear their backlog of carriageway repairs is barely changed at £69.2m per authority, compared to £71.7m the year before.

The AIA report said that focus groups suggested that rising costs were an issue, diminishing the value of the larger average budgets for highways services.? The report also suggests that severe weather has increased the size of the problem.

The Local Government Association seized on the report as suggesting that authorities were doing as much as was possible with current funding. Councillor Peter Box, LGA economy and transport board chair, said: “Despite our best efforts things are getting worse. Councils need increased funding to invest in widespread resurfacing projects.”

But transport minister Norman Baker attempted to downplay the?survey findings at the Future of Highways Delivery summit by saying the asphalt industry had a vested interest in increasing investment. Alan MacKenzie, chair of the AIA, responded to council delegates saying, “they’re your figures, not ours”.

The Pothole Review ordered by Baker has tasked local highway authorities with spending a bigger slice of their highways budgets on preventative repairs and he is to seek evidence on whether this is happening.

Discuss this at LTT's Future of Highways North Event in Manchester on the 18 June