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Why local roads need long-term investment

 

(This article originally appeared in Government Business magazine, issue 32.6) 

Our ageing local roads are under pressure from rising traffic volumes, more frequent extreme weather events, but most of all, from long-term underfunding. It means that network resilience is under pressure, leaving local roads even more vulnerable to the effects of intense rainfall and colder weather. As temperatures begin to fall and autumn storms pass through, thoughts inevitably turn to how well prepared our local road network is for the upcoming winter months.

The Asphalt Industry Alliance’s (AIA) Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey report 2025 highlights that more than half of roads in England and Wales – 52% – are reported to be in less than good condition, with less than 15 years of structural life remaining and that it would now cost a record £16.81 billion to tackle the backlog of existing carriageway repairs.

Over the past three decades ALARM has reported that long periods of cuts and underfunding have resulted in deteriorating road conditions, followed by inconsistent, short-term cash injections in an effort to stem the decline. It is clearly an approach that hasn’t delivered for road users with conditions now as bad as they have ever been.

For example, ALARM 2025 highlighted that if local authorities had sufficient funds and resources to achieve their target conditions, it would result in improvements to 30% of the local road network – the equivalent of 60,900 miles*. Yet in practice, local authorities resurfaced just 3,100 miles of road (1.5% of network length) and carried out treatments to extend the life of the road on just 6,100 miles (3%) of the network.

And, with nearly two thirds (65%) of ALARM respondents stating that, in their opinion, the structural conditions of their networks had declined in the last 12 months, it’s clear that something needs to change.

The challenge for local authorities

Local authority highway teams are faced with a thankless task: they have a legal responsibility to keep our roads safe but don’t have the funds to also carry out the cost effective, proactive and sustainable prevention and improvement works needed over the long term.

ALARM 2025 reported that instead, local highway authorities are forced to rely on short-term, reactive maintenance.  For example, 1.9 million potholes were filled over the last year, and, in the last 10 years, more than 17.5 million have been filled – the equivalent of one pothole filled every 18 seconds, every day.

However, while potholes may be a curse, they are not inevitable: they are the symptom of an underfunded network, one which has deteriorated to a point where it is more susceptible to the effects of the cold weather, rainfall and the repeated freeze-thaw cycle that winter brings. In turn, this leads to disruption and potential costs for damages for road users and contributes to the increasing costs faced by local authorities also tasked with more reactive and emergency repairs.

ALARM reports on the number of local authorities also having to deal with emergency repairs caused by unforeseen events, such as extreme flooding, with just over half (53%) of authorities in England telling us they had such circumstances to deal with last year. In fact, in the last three years alone, more than £600m has been spent on the increasing number and scope of unpredictable events.

Local authorities can only do so much with the resources they have been given but repeatedly filling potholes is indicative of a network on the edge. It is less effective in enhancing resilience than planned preventative maintenance, which also delivers better whole life value for money.

If we want the condition of our local roads to improve, the focus needs to shift from addressing the number of potholes to giving local authority highway engineers the tools they need to carry out the right maintenance interventions at the right time and ultimately to prevent potholes from forming in the first place.

The economic case for investment is clear; research** backed by the Department for Transport (DfT) suggests that every additional £1 invested in local roads results in a return on investment of between £2 and £9. So, if the Government is looking to kickstart the economy, investing in our local roads would be a good place to start, while providing better value for money for taxpayers and improved conditions for all road users.

Future proofing our local roads

ALARM 2025 reported that on average, the total highway maintenance budget across England and Wales decreased by 2% – equivalent to a real-terms cut of 5.5% on the previous year once inflation is taken into account. So, while recent funding announcements covering several years but with various conditions attached, will be welcomed by local authorities, the fact remains it lags behind what’s highway engineers report is needed to prevent further decline.

Our view is that there needs to be a complete change in mindset supported by of sufficient long-term commitments, such as the strategic road network and railways benefit from. This would allow for better planning and execution of maintenance at the right time – delivering a more resilient network and improved road conditions that local authorities can manage cost-effectively going forward.

Frontloaded and targeted investment over the long term would allow local authorities to plan and proactively carry out timely and efficient improvement, maintenance and prevention works to the greatest benefit of all road users – rather than bracing for winter and a long season of chasing the increasingly inevitable potholes.

The Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) has presented its first ALARM Appreciation Award, recognising an outstanding contribution to the success of its Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey, to Donna Kelly, Service Manager at London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF).

The inaugural award was announced during the AIA’s recent Sharing Best Practice webinar, attended by 250 highway engineers from 144 local authorities, alongside industry representatives.

This year’s ALARM survey, which was produced in the AIA’s 25th anniversary year, had its highest ever response rate, with submissions received from almost 80% of local authorities.

“We are indebted to the local authorities that contribute to ALARM’s success by providing data and participating in focus groups – allowing us to develop a robust and influential report,” said David Giles, Chair of the AIA.

“Thanks in no small part to Donna’s support, we’ve seen response rates across London Boroughs increase significantly over recent years, to reach an all-time high of 78% this year.”

In her role as previous Chair of LoHEG – the London Highways Engineers Group – Donna was a strong advocate of ALARM, encouraging involvement by other Boroughs and enabling the AIA to publish more robust London-only findings.

“It’s been a bit of a labour of love, but I’m so thrilled we’ve been able to get the numbers up over the years,” said Donna.

“The LBHF Cabinet Members love quoting the ALARM survey, so it’s important to be a part of that.

“As with all surveys, if you’re part of the conversation, then you can use the data to try and persuade the powers that be to give us a bit more funding, which I’m sure everyone could do with a bit more of!”

The ALARM survey is carried out annually by the AIA and gives detailed insight into the funding and conditions of the local road network in England (including London) and Wales, based on information provided by those responsible for its maintenance. The resulting report is used by local authorities for benchmarking and by stakeholders across the sector as a tool to track long-term trends.

“The Chancellor is right, in her comments made today, that the stop-go nature of public funding has left our roads full of potholes. “It’s all too evident to local road users that an inconsistent approach to highways maintenance funding*, has led to a network in decline. So, it’s not surprising that ALARM data highlights that there are now 10,000 more miles of local road in structurally POOR condition (with five years or less of structural life remaining) than there were a decade ago.**. “In the Budget later this month, the Chancellor needs to give local highway engineers the tools to do the job.  Substantial, sustained and targeted investment in local roads maintenance is what’s needed to make lasting improvements. And, if this Government is looking to kick start  growth, it makes sound investment sense too, with DfT backed research stating that for every additional £1 spent on road maintenance results in a return on investment of between £2 and £9”***. “

*The Public Accounts Committee January 2025 report Condition and maintenance of local roads in England’ states that government funding to local authorities over the last decade had varied between £1.1 and £1.6 billion per year. ** ALARM survey reports 2016-2025 *** DfT’s 2024 ‘Economic appraisal for investing in local highway maintenance’

The highways industry trade body, which was established in 2000 to increase awareness of the asphalt industry and its activities, is a partnership between the Mineral Products Association (MPA) and Eurobitume.

It works to promote the uses and benefits of asphalt as an essential and sustainable solution for road maintenance and construction to specifiers, policymakers and the general public.

Over the past 25 years, awareness of the AIA and its activities has grown, and it is now recognised as an authoritative, independent voice on industry issues.

One of the AIA’s best-known activities is publishing the Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey, which gathers data from local authorities on the condition of the local road network in England and Wales and the funding allocated to its maintenance.

The aim of ALARM, and the ongoing work of the AIA throughout the year, is to raise awareness of road maintenance and condition issues, seeking to inform and influence a change in the amount and methods of funding for local roads.

David Giles, who is the eighth Chair of the AIA, said: “Over the years, ALARM has become integral to, and synonymous with, the national debate on ‘the potholes problem’ and the AIA continues to use its findings to emphasise the importance of increased, sustained and targeted investment in maintenance of our local roads.”

The AIA’s call for sustainable, longer-term funding for local roads is reinforced by direct engagement with parliamentarians and policymakers, particularly through its support of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Better Roads in conjunction with the Institute of Highway Engineers.

It also supports collaboration and knowledge sharing across the sector through its annual online Sharing Best Practice event, which brings together local authority highway teams and industry experts to discuss materials and innovation with case studies showing how these are helping to improve the performance and sustainability of the network.

The AIA also hosts RoadFile, an online hub of road-related statistics covering topics such as road usage, traffic volume, safety, environment and funding. It provides the latest publicly available data from trusted UK and EU sources such as the DfT and Eurostat.

“The additional challenges the highways sector faces today such as limited budgets, the need to decarbonise, protecting against the effects of extreme weather events, and rising traffic volumes on a deteriorating network, make our work more important than ever,” said David.

“We will continue to play our part in making the case and calling for targeted and accountable funding over the long term as well as promoting practical, sustainable asphalt solutions that support a resilient road network and help the UK meet its net zero ambitions.”