Just three per cent of England’s 183,054-miles network of local roads received any form of road maintenance last year despite the ongoing plight of potholes, analysis of official government data reveals.
In total, 4,894 miles of all road types were strengthened, resurfaced or preserved in the previous financial year 2023/24, representing an 18 per cent increase (750 miles) in maintenance work compared to the year before.
However, the situation is far bleaker now than it was six years ago when 7,510 miles of roads were repaired or upgraded, suggesting a 35 per cent decline, the RAC found while crunching the numbers.
The statistics also show that just 5 per cent of the nation's busy A roads were strengthened, resurfaced or preserved in the last financial year.
This accounts for 817 of the country’s 17,860-mile network, down by a third from the 1,222 maintained in 2017/18.
And the percentage of minor roads fixed over the most recent 12-month period is even smaller; just 2 per cent (4,080 miles) of the 165,195 miles of B and C category roads in England were strengthened, resurfaced or given life-extending preservation treatment.
Use our interactive maps below to find out how many roads were fixed or treated by YOUR local council.
Potholes remain: Just 3% of England’s 183,054-miles network of local roads received any form of road maintenance in the previous financial year, RAC analysis has found
The RAC's analysis found that exactly half (76) of England’s 152 councils did not complete any road maintenance to prevent potholes forming on major A roads in 2023/2024.
Preventative treatments - including preservation, rejuvenation, surface dressing and micro surfacing, stop cracking and sealing from the damaging ingress of water - can help to avoid the need for more costly resurfacing in the future once a road has fallen into a state of disrepair.
However, more than a third of authorities failed to complete any work of this kind on B, C and unclassified roads.
This is a considerably smaller proportion than six years ago when only 28 per cent of authorities didn’t use preventative treatments on these routes.
With a far greater volume of council-operated roads in desperate need of a complete overhaul, resurfacing projects did increase - though only fractionally - in the previous financial year.
In total, councils in England resurfaced 1,242 miles of their entire road networks, a 2 per cent rise on the 1,223 the 12 months previous.
Yet, the data shows that 16 authorities - representative of 11 per cent - didn’t resurface any A roads in 2023/24, while 7 per cent (10 authorities) failed to resurface any minor roads.
Preventative treatments, such as surface dressing, can help to avoid the need for more costly resurfacing. However, more than a third of authorities failed to complete any work of this kind on B, C and unclassified roads
Regionally, Gloucestershire County Council knocked Kent off the top spot for the highest number of resurfaced miles on A roads: 24 miles of its 337 mile-network (7 per cent), double the amount (12 miles) it completed last year.
For the second year in a row, Staffordshire completed the greatest amount of preservation work – 9 per cent, equating to 37 of its 411 miles of A roads – exactly the same proportion as last year.
In the South East, Surrey took the title for the most minor roads resurfaced by replacing 50 miles of its 2,958-mile network (only 2 per cent).
For two years running, Norfolk carried out the most preservation work treating 5 per cent of its 5,586 B, C and U roads, equating to 302 miles.
The RAC’s research follows the Government’s funding allocation of £1.6bn for councils to fix potholes – the biggest one-off road maintenance settlement councils in England have ever received.
RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: 'It’s good to see an increase in the amount of road maintenance being carried out by councils from the previous financial year, but that’s hardly great progress given the 2022/23 figure was a five-year low.
'And it remains the case that still only a slither of England’s total road network is getting any maintenance attention whatsoever.
'This reinforces our belief that most councils are in a cycle of merely filling potholes, rather than looking after their roads properly.
'The bigger picture is far more concerning because it still shows a significant decline in the proportion of our roads strengthened, resurfaced or preserved compared to six years ago.
'As the Government has just given councils a record amount of funding to look after their roads, we hope to see a significant improvement in the quality of road surfaces due to the extra maintenance they will be able to carry out in the next 12 months.'
The Asphalt Industry Alliance warned last month that one in every six miles of the local road network in England and Wales will lack 'structural integrity' within five years
The motoring group's findings have been shared less than a month after experts revealed the repair bill for England and Wales' potholed roads would cost £17billion.
The Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) also warned that one in every six miles of the local road network in England and Wales – or 34,600 miles in all – will lack 'structural integrity' within five years.
Mike Hansford, chief executive of the Road Surface Treatments Association, added: 'Preventative road surface treatments offer councils a cost-effective and lower-carbon approach to managing road assets through their lifecycle.
'If you invested in most other assets, you would invest in periodic treatments to keep that asset in good condition to achieve optimum performance. An asphalt road should be no different.
'This preventative maintenance approach results in roads being kept in good condition for longer, reduces future pothole formation, and allows local authorities to treat more of their road networks.'
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