Archives: Press Releases

Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) comment on the Welsh Assembly’s Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee report following its inquiry into the state of roads in Wales

Please attribute quote to Rick Green, Chairman, Asphalt Industry Alliance:

“The Welsh Assembly’s Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee should be applauded for its
thorough review and the pragmatic conclusions it has reached.

“We have long been banging the drum for sufficient and sustained funding for our local road network
and have recently called for an additional £1.5 billion* to be made available each year, for 10
years, for road maintenance in England and Wales.

“This would equate to more than doubling the current amount spent each year on maintaining Welsh
roads and is needed to clear the backlog and stop the on-going decline in conditions caused as a
result of years of underfunding.

“Looking ahead, our members would be happy to work in a Welsh Pavements Efficiency Group to advise
on the most effective materials and processes – one of the recommendations included in our own
submission to the enquiry.”

ENDS

For more information please contact:

Samantha Stagg or Madeleine Hardman, AIA press and information office: T: +44 (0)207 222 0136

M: 07977 019648

E: info@asphaltuk.org; W: www.asphaltuk.org

*For English and Welsh and London local  authorities

4 October 2018

 

AIA calls for significant boost to local roads’ budgets to improve conditions

The Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) is calling for an additional £1.5 billion per year to be reallocated from existing fuel duty and spent on local road maintenance[1].

The funds, which, the AIA says, will need to be made available for the next decade, would allow council highways teams to halt the on-going decline of the network and bring local roads up to target conditions.

“Our local roads have been underfunded for many years and the result is that more than 24,000 miles of the network is classed as poor and may need to be repaired in the next 12 months,” said Rick Green, Chairman of the AIA.

“There have been calls for an additional 2p per litre from existing fuel duty to be reinvested in local road maintenance, which would generate an additional £1 billion per year, but we don’t think this goes far enough.

“In order to tackle the scale of the problem we believe that 3p per litre from fuel duty needs to be redirected. This would allow the annual £555.7 million shortfall in England and Wales reported in our Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey to be addressed AND provide £1 billion to tackle the legacy of underfunding.

“Sustained over 10 years, this will allow the local road network to be brought back to a standard fit for the 21^st century, where it can effectively support communities and drive

economic growth; a standard which could then be effectively maintained going forward.”

The AIA’s call for sustained additional funding is detailed in its submission to the Transport Select Committee’s inquiry into local roads funding and governance and follows recent meetings the AIA has had with policy makers and politicians.

 

For more information please contact:

Samantha Stagg or Madeleine Hardman, AIA press and information office:

T: +44 (0)207 222 0136

E: info@asphaltuk.org;

W: www.asphaltuk.org

 

Notes to editors

• The AIA is a partnership between the Mineral Products Association (MPA) and Eurobitume UK. It aims to increase awareness of the asphalt industry and promote the uses and benefits of asphalt to specifiers, policy makers and the general public.
• Each year the AIA commissions the Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey to provide a detail picture of local road funding and maintenance issues. Now in its 23^rd year, the ALARM survey is recognised as providing robust and reliable data on these issues.
• The AIA’s calls for an additional £1.5 billion per annum for local roads would bring annual local road network spending to £2.6 billion – the equivalent of @£12,000 per mile of local road – still a long way behind funding levels for the SRN.
• ALARM reports that local authorities need £9.3 billion to bring the network up to scratch. However, improving the network cannot be carried out on a straight-line curve – all work cannot be carried out at the same time and parts of the network will continue to deteriorate in the meantime. This is why a sustained 10-year period of additional investment is needed.
• The RAC Foundation stated in 2012 that of a total of £30.7 billion raised from direct motoring taxation (fuel duty and vehicle excise duty (VED) only 14% was spent on the local road network. This compares to 27% in 2007 and around 50% in the 1970s.

 

[1] For local roads in England (including London) and Wales.

Please attribute quote to Rick Green, Chairman, Asphalt Industry Alliance

“Any additional funding for road maintenance will be appreciated by hard-pressed local authorities’ highway teams. However, the £100 million extra for the Pothole Action Fund for England announced earlier this week, will not do much to tackle our failing roads – it’s just papering over the cracks.

“Our Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey 2018, launched just last week, reported that English authorities need an additional £389 million a year just to keep the carriageway in reasonable order. And, more than £8 billion would be needed to carry out a one-time catch-up to bring local roads in England up to scratch.

“With one in five roads now classed as structurally poor, the most efficient way to deal with the problem of our failing roads is to provide local authorities with the resources they need to maintain them properly.”

You could drive almost around the world on the length of roads in England
and Wales that could fail if they are not fixed in the next 12 months, reports
this year’s Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey,
published today (20 March 2018).

Cash-strapped local authorities report that more than 24,400 miles of road
are identified as needing essential maintenance in the next year.

The ALARM survey, produced by the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) and
now in its 23rd year, is widely respected throughout industry and local and
national government as the most authoritative and comprehensive study
into local road maintenance funding and condition.

This year local authorities in England and Wales report that the gap
between the funds they received and the amount they actually needed
to keep the carriageway in reasonable order was almost £556 million – a
shortfall of £3.3 million for every authority. And, it would now take 14 years
to get local roads back into a reasonable steady state, provided adequate
funds and resources were available.

Rick Green, Chairman of the AIA, said: “Although local authorities report
an increase in average highway maintenance budgets this year, looking
back over the last decade they have barely kept in line with inflation. This is
reflected in road condition, with one in five of our local roads now classed
as structurally poor – with less than five years’ life remaining – compared
with one in six reported last year.

“Local roads are a vital asset, worth in the region of £400 billion, and they
support all aspects of our daily work and home lives. But funding for their
adequate maintenance has fallen short for so many years that further
deterioration is inevitable.

“We accept that there is no magic wand to wave, nor is there a bottomless
pot of money to tap into. There are difficult choices to be made at both
local and national level but the government needs to provide adequate
funding for a well maintained and safe local road network if it wants to
support communities and drive economic growth.”

08 March 2018

ASPHALT INDUSTRY ALLIANCE COMMENT ON POTHOLE DAY

“We should be focusing on improving the overall condition of our local roads, rather than wasting time filling in potholes.

“Potholes are a symptom of poorly maintained roads. They need to be stopped from forming in the first place by providing cash-strapped local authorities with sufficient funds to ensure they are kept safe and fit for purpose.

“The AIA has been campaigning through our Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey for more than two decades to reverse the long-term underfunding of local authority highway maintenance budgets. Past reports have acknowledged that the lack of funding has undermined the resilience of the network and that local authorities have stated that they would require £12 billion to bring the local road network up to scratch.

“Our 2018 ALARM survey will be published on Tuesday, March 20, with in-depth qualitative and quantitative data submitted from over 60% of local authorities across England and Wales, including London.”

22 November 2017

ASPHALT INDUSTRY ALLIANCE COMMENT ON TODAY’S BUDGET  

Please attribute quotes to Rick Green, Chairman, Asphalt Industry Alliance

“It is good news that the Chancellor recognises the importance of infrastructure in underpinning our economic future but, while today’s announcements may be good for connectivity, local roads feel like the forgotten relation.

“Politicians might like the kudos and column inches associated with unveiling new schemes and innovations but, a continued lack of investment in maintenance, means our local road network will keep on deteriorating.”

Notes to editors

The Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) is a partnership between the Mineral Products Association and Eurobitume UK. It draws on the knowledge and experience of both organisations to increase awareness of the asphalt industry and to promote the uses and benefits of asphalt.

The AIA produces the annual ALARM survey to provide a detailed picture of the condition of the local road network and enable insightful analysis of road maintenance and funding issues.

Our latest ALARM survey reported that local authority highways departments estimated that the time required, given adequate funding and resources, to bring the network up to scratch would be 12 years and would cost £12.06 billion.

The full report can be downloaded at: www.asphaltuk.org. Please attribute any figures quoted to the AIA’s ALARM survey. 

For more information please contact: Samantha Stagg or Madeleine Hardman, AIA press and

information office: T: +44 (0)20 7222 0136; M: +44 (0)7977 019648

E: info@asphaltuk.org; W: www.asphaltuk.org

27 September 2017

The Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) has today announced the appointment of a new Chairman.

Rick Green, Managing Director of Hanson Contracting, has taken over from Alan Mackenzie who has stepped down after five years in the position.

The AIA, a partnership between the Mineral Products Association and Eurobitume UK was established in 2000 to increase awareness of the asphalt industry and its activities, as well as the uses and benefits of asphalt.

A key part of its activity is the Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey, which helps to raise awareness of maintenance and funding issues. It also supports the All Party Parliamentary Group on Highways, which seeks to promote understanding and awareness of the economic importance of the highway network as well as the safety, social and environmental benefits that properly maintained roads provide.

Rick has over 25 years’ operational and commercial experience in the highway construction and maintenance sector. His background is in civil engineering and he has held a number of senior positions within the asphalt industry.

“I am delighted to have taken over as Chairman of the AIA,” said Rick. “It is recognised as an authoritative voice on industry issues and has played a significant role in promoting the benefits of planned, preventative maintenance and the need for long-term funding commitments from central government.

“I would like to thank Alan for his sterling work in raising the importance of these issues with key influencers. There is no doubt that the AIA’s campaigning has made an impact and we support the security of funding that is now in place for local authorities, as well as the Government’s move to redirect funds from Vehicle Excise Duty into local road maintenance from 2021.

“We will continue to keep the momentum up, as there is still a long way to go when it comes to securing the road network we need to support vibrant communities and local economies.”

“The Transport Secretary’s announcement is a positive step which will help address the disparity of funding between the strategic road network and local roads.

“But with this year’s Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance survey (ALARM) highlighting that £12 billion is needed to bring the local road network up to scratch, there is still a long way to go when it comes to maintaining the existing network.

“It is vital this proposed funding doesn’t come at the expense of current local authority highways budgets and that it is easy to access. The Government must also be mindful that the focus on major A-roads does not result in a two-tier system within local authority controlled roads.”

“Our message to whoever is in power after the election is that it’s time to get to grips with fixing our local roads.

“Decades of underfunding, coupled with the effects of increased traffic and wetter winters on an ageing network, means one in six may not be fit for purpose in five years’ time.

“A recent Comres poll for the Tax Payer’s Alliance found that the public ranked repairing roads at the top of a list of investment priorities – above broadband connectivity, motorways and better rail links.

“This year’s Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey highlighted a funding black hole with over £12 billion needed to bring the network up to scratch.

“It’s disappointing that highways maintenance has all but been ignored in the main parties’ manifestos, but hopefully a new government will sit up and take notice.”

ALARM findings suggest local roads in terminal decline
Within the next five years one in six of our local roads will need to be repaired, or may even face closure, reports this year’s Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey, published today (28 March 2017).

The cumulative effect of an ageing network, decades of underfunding, increased traffic and wetter winters has led to around 17 per cent of all local roads reported as being in poor structural condition, with less than five years of life remaining.

The ALARM survey, produced by the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) is now in its 22nd year and is widely respected throughout industry and local and national government as the most authoritative and comprehensive study into local road maintenance funding and condition.

It again reports local authorities need over £12 billion to bring the network up to scratch – a figure that has remained largely unchanged for four years – and the gap between the amount they received this year and the amount they say they need to keep the carriageway in reasonable order is almost £730 million.

Alan Mackenzie, chairman of the AIA, said: “Local authority highway teams do not have enough resources to arrest the terminal decline in the condition of our local roads and the network is not resilient enough to meet the challenges ahead.

“Despite this, the efficiencies they have achieved in recent years through adopting an asset management approach should be applauded.
“Working smarter, greater collaboration and improved communication are all contributing to their ability to do more with less – though of course there will come a point when there are no further efficiency savings to be found.”

A large number of local authorities have also been hit with unforeseen costs (England: 43%; London: 53%; Wales: 56%), primarily as a result of structural failures caused by adverse weather and increased traffic, which have put additional pressure on resources.

The number of potholes filled over the last year has dropped again for the second successive year, but is still high at 1.7 million – one every 19 seconds.
“Almost all journeys begin and end on a local road and we all rely on them every day,” said Alan Mackenzie. “They represent an asset worth in excess of £400 billion but, at present, less than one per cent of their value is being spent annually on maintenance.

“Potholes are a symptom of poorly maintained roads and can have a serious effect on road users but spending money fixing them in isolation, although essential, is wasteful. The most efficient way to deal with our crumbling roads is to fix them properly and stop potholes forming in the first place.

“It is time we had a rethink about the future funding of our roads otherwise we will end up with a network that is just not fit for purpose.”