Local transport most neglected part of the UK's infrastructure, say engineers

Local roads are deteriorating and the failure of flood defences has contributed to this, says the ICE

Local roads are deteriorating and the failure of flood defences has contributed to this, says the ICE

Local transport is the most neglected and deteriorating part of the UK's infrastructure according to engineers, who say that the state of the nation's infrastructure has improved overall since 2010.

The Institution of Civil Engineers' annual stocktake of UK infrastructure identifies strategic transport infrastructure as "adequate for now," but the nation's local transport infrastructure is "at risk" due to a decline in the maintenance of local roads. The ICE report says that resilience should be part of the criteria for making decisions on the relative priority of infrastructure projects in future.

ICE's State of the Nation report chair, Keith Clarke, said the 'domino effect' across the networks when one network fails - such as when flood defences were overwhelmed and this in turn disrupted transport, energy and other networks - should be recognised. 

The report also urges "more ambitious" planned, preventative highway maintenance regimes and the creation of "more powerful" integrated transport authorities in city regions.