RAC Report on Motoring 2016

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1.0 What’s on motorists’ minds?
1.3 The state of our roads
For one in every seven motorists
(14%), the condition and maintenance
of local roads is their most
pressing concern, making it the
most serious issue in this year’s
Report on Motoring. Problems with
deteriorating road surfaces and
potholes have been growing for many
years now, but matters appear to be
getting worse at an alarming rate,
according to the drivers the RAC
surveyed. In 2015, only 10% named
local roads as their top concern.
Almost two-fifths of motorists
(38%) listed local road conditions
as a top-four concern this year,
up from less than a third (30%)
12 months ago.
The Government has committed
to invest £6bn into local road
maintenance between 2015 and
20218 while in the March 2016
Budget, the Conservatives agreed
to set up a £50m-a-year Pothole
Action Fund to deal with the most
serious road-surface defects9 .
But it appears these policies have
so far failed to have any material
impact on motorists’ perceptions on
the condition of local roads. This is
not really surprising given that the
Department for Transport’s own
analysis suggested that there was
an £8.6bn backlog10 in local road
maintenance and independent
analysis suggests the backlog may
be even greater11.
8.
9.
10.
11.
RAC call to action:
The state of our roads: see page 90
RAC Report on Motoring 2016
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