RAC Report on Motoring 2016

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3.0 The state of our roads
Of the 28% who think the state
of major roads has declined, 83%
cite surface quality, including
potholes, as one of the problems
they face, although litter (28%),
lane-marking visibility (24%) and
carriageway lighting (15%) are
also issues.
Concern about the state of local
roads has grown despite some
attempt by the Government to
increase expenditure on local
road infrastructure. Ministers
have promised to pump £6bn
into local road maintenance
between 2015 and 202117 while
in the March 2016 Budget, the
Government announced the
creation of a £50m-a-year Pothole
Action Fund to target the roads in
greatest need of repair18.
17.
18.
19.
20.
RAC call to action:
The state of our roads: see page 90
This follows analysis from the
Department for Transport which
found that there was a backlog of
up to £8.6bn in spending on local
road maintenance 19.
However, the latest independent
findings from the Asphalt Industry
Alliance (AIA) suggest the true
picture may be even more gloomy.
The organisation’s Annual Local
Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM)
report published in March 201620 found
that, despite the commitment to extra
state funding, local authority highways
departments in England claimed that
funding has dropped by 16% on
average since last year. The report also
said that the amount of investment
needed to bring roads in England and
Wales up to an acceptable level had
remained just below £12 billion.
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RAC Report on Motoring 2016
“The lower support for the Government to
prioritise investment in the maintenance of
motorways and other major roads may simply
reflect the fact that it’s the condition of local
roads that worries respondents, because they
have deteriorated at such a rapid pace.”
STEVE GOODING
Director
RAC Foundation