National Pothole Day

Commenting on National Pothole Day AIA Chair, Rick Green said: “It’s important to stress that, from a highway engineering perspective, potholes are not inevitable.

“They are the result of poorly maintained roads due to long term under-funding. Repeatedly filling potholes is indicative of a network on the edge and is less efficient when it comes to materials usage and carbon emissions than planned preventative maintenance.

“Everyone relies on local roads, they underpin our communities and support goods and services, but our Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey 2022 highlighted that £12 billion is still needed to bring them up to scratch.

“We appreciate that there are difficult choices to make, but not investing in local road maintenance only leads to worsening conditions, which impact on other locally provided public services, and a rising bill to fix the problem.

“A first step would be a longer-term funding horizon from central Government with more highway budget ringfencing. This would help local authority engineers to plan effectively and be able to implement more efficient works to enhance the resilience of the local road network.”