04 April 2008
Local authorities have pledged to clamp down on overrunning roadworks after a survey showed it would take 11 years to clear the backlog.
Utility companies dug 2.5 million trenches in local roads in England and Wales last year, according to the Asphalt Industry Alliance's annual survey, published on April 2. It claimed councils faced a £1bn shortfall in road maintenance budgets.
The Local Government Association said councils would use new powers under the Traffic Management Act to set binding start and finish dates and to order resurfacing work. LGA transport spokesman David Sparks said councils needed an extra £200m a year just to repair potholes. 'Authorities will use the new permits to crack down on utility companies who fail to complete works on time or flout the conditions set out in their permit,' he said.
'For too long utilities have been given a free hand to dig holes in the road with little consideration to the congestion and disruption this causes. There's also the cost to council taxpayers because authorities are left to clear up after the utility companies have moved on.'
The AIA called on councils to ring-fence future road maintenance budgets and demanded an immediate injection of funding to address the shortfall. AIA chair Jim Crick said: 'Roads are a vital asset and our most valuable one. We all depend on them every day and it's time the underfunding of their maintenance was addressed.
'There are so many demands on highways maintenance budgets now that it is almost impossible to keep pace with them.'
In 2006/07 across England and Wales, £53m was paid out in compensation claims for damage to vehicles or for road traffic accidents due to road structural conditions, according to the AIA.
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