Key industry figures have called for the Government to do more to improve the condition of local roads, despite the chancellor’s Budget announcement of an immediate cash boost of £420m for maintenance.
Matthew Lugg, technical director at WSP and president of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation, said the cash would be ‘very welcome news for cash-strapped English local highway authorities who have been struggling to maintain their road networks after all the surface damaged caused by a particularly harsh and prolonged winter’.
He added: ‘The extra funding for structures is equally important as there is increasing concern about the resilience of many bridges that are now coming to the end of their design life. It is important that this funding is targeted to where it is most needed and local authorities are not required to go through a lengthy bidding process.
‘This extra funding will make a difference, but there’s a need for a more effective long-term solution to tackle the national maintenance backlog estimated at around £8bn. As CIHT president I’m leading a review (the Lugg Review) into the future options of funding and maintaining local roads in time to feed into the Comprehensive Spending Review in 2019.’
The Road Safety Markings Association (RSMA) welcomed the £25.3bn allocated to Highways England for the strategic roads network (SRN) between 2020 and 2025 but highlighted its concern at the ‘disproportionately small’ level of funding to be made available to local authorities.
RSMA chief executive Stu McInroy said: ‘The enormous imbalance in funding between the Highways England network and local roads cannot be justified. This is not to detract from the vital work that Highways England undertakes, but local roads need to be better funded to ensure a fit-for-purpose future. The Highways England network makes up only 2% of all roads in England.
‘Professionally applied well-maintained road markings are a key component in saving lives and reducing the financial burden on local authorities that results from death and serious injury road traffic incidents. The public is justified to feel aggrieved with the raw deal it gets from underfunded and underperforming local highways networks and has the right to expect better.’
Duncan Dollimore, Cycling UK’s head of campaigns, said: ‘Overall this Budget fails to provide sufficient funding for rural communities and small towns, with the focus on our larger cities and the major road network.
‘The UK’s dirty air crisis is already upon us, with the WHO already likening pollution to the ‘new tobacco’. Our streets are congested, our public’s health failing and the environment suffering – and instead of spending on measures to address this like encouraging cycling and walking, more money is being disproportionately ploughed into motorways and highways which make up 2% of our roads network.’
However, Anthony Smith, chief executive at watchdog Transport Focus, said drivers will welcome the spending on the SRN.
He said: ‘We will now work to ensure the money is spent on the issues that drivers tell us are the key priorities driving satisfaction: reliable journey times, improved road surfaces, better handling of roadworks and delays, and safer road design.’
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