Nearly three in four people say the condition of their local roads has deteriorated over the past year.
According to the latest research by the RAC, concern about the state of these roads has reached an all-time high.
More than half of drivers (56 per cent) said the condition and maintenance of roads for which councils are responsible was one of their main concerns, according to a survey commissioned by the RAC.
Nearly three in four (73 percent) of respondents said the condition of the local roads they regularly use was worse than a year earlier, compared with 67 percent who agreed with that statement in 2023.
The figure rose to 81 percent for drivers in rural areas.
Nearly three in four people say the condition of their local roads has deteriorated over the past year.
Some 27 percent of respondents said their vehicle had been damaged by potholes in the previous 12 months.
The most common problem reported was a flat tire (47 percent), followed by wheel damage (43 percent) and broken suspension springs (29 percent).
The RAC has written to Transport Secretary Louise Haigh and Roads Minister Lilian Greenwood seeking urgent clarification on the future of funding for local road maintenance.
The motoring organisation’s policy chief Simon Williams said: ‘These new figures are a resounding indictment of the commitments made by previous governments to tackle Britain’s perpetual pothole plague.
‘It is clearer than ever that councils simply have not had the financial support they need to bring the standard of the roads in their care up to a reasonable level.
‘It’s absolutely astonishing that, on average, the drivers we surveyed are far more concerned about the state of their local roads this year than they are about the cost of car insurance, which has skyrocketed in recent years, or the cost of fuel, which is still at an uncomfortably high level.’
The RAC and Channel 4 Offices The programme earlier this year revealed that whether or not potholes are repaired depends entirely on the council’s own criteria, and the The criteria for determining what is considered in need of repair can vary widely from region to region.
The research found that a third of councils only fix potholes when they reach a specific depth, regardless of their width.
This means that many dangerous potholes are left unrepaired, posing an ongoing risk to road users, especially those on two wheels.
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Recent research found a variety of different approaches by 206 councils when it comes to identifying and repairing potholes.
“The new government simply needs to do something different,” Williams added.
‘Drivers, who contribute billions of dollars to the Treasury each year in taxes, have been driven to despair by a local road network that, in too many parts of the country, is only getting worse.
“It shouldn’t be like this. They need something to believe in, both from the national and local government.
“Anything short of a radical change in the state of roads over the course of this Parliament simply won’t be enough.”
A report by the National Audit Office, Whitehall’s spending watchdog, published last month concluded that the Government has “significant gaps” in its understanding of the quality of road surfaces.
According to the latest RAC research, concern about the state of these roads has reached an all-time high.
The NAO pointed to industry estimates of a £15.6bn backlog of highway maintenance across the country, which it said was preventing councils from undertaking “preventative work”.
An analysis of DfT data showed that the percentage of road length maintained in England each year is declining
Claire Holland, transport spokeswoman for the Local Government Association, which represents councils in England and Wales, said: ‘Limited resources and a £16.3bn backlog of local road repairs means councils have had to prioritise road repairs based on local circumstances.
‘Inflation and constant pressures from other municipal services mean that money to fix potholes is limited.
‘The new government must commit to maintaining the previous administration’s spending plans for local road maintenance, coupled with the need for long-term financial certainty, to help better support resurfacing plans and prevent potholes in the first place.’
In October 2023, the Conservative government announced it would provide £8.3bn of additional funding over 11 years to fix potholes in England.
This was part of its Network North strategy to use the money saved by scrapping the planned extension of HS2 north of Birmingham.
A Department for Transport spokesman said: ‘Rebuilding Britain means modernising our transport infrastructure and we are absolutely committed to tackling the poor state of our local roads.
‘We will maintain and renew the network, including supporting local authorities to fix up to one million more potholes a year, to ensure our roads serve users, are safe and tackle congestion.’
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