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Pothole levels likely to surge warn councils because of spike in number of heavy lorries

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Pothole levels are likely to surge because of a spike in levels of heavier lorries wearing down roads, councils warn.

The amount of goods lorries are transporting each year has rocketed by 5 per cent to almost 1.7 billion tonnes from the previous year, new figures reveal. The heavier the vehicle the more pressure is likely to be exerted on road surfaces, causing them to crumble quicker and form potholes. Lorries, particularly very heavy lorries, are massively more damaging to road surfaces than cars. This is because the damaging power rises exponentially as the weight of the vehicle increases.

The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents more than 370 councils in England and Wales, says chronic government underfunding has left the local roads network facing an “unprecedented crisis” and this new increase in lorries could push the network “over the edge”.

The LGA points out that, over the remaining years of the decade, the Government is investing over 40 times more in maintaining national roads (£1.1 million per mile; national roads make up just 3 per cent of all total roads) compared with local roads, which are controlled by councils (£27,000 per mile; 97 per cent of England’s road network).

Councils are warning 2017 could be a tipping point year for potholes, with the repair bill reaching £14 billion within two years. The LGA says the overall repair figure has been steadily growing. According to statistics from the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), the total has risen from £9.8 billion in 2012 to £11.8 billion last year. At this current rate, it is projected to rise to £14 billion by around 2019. £14 billion is more than three times councils’ entire annual revenue spending on highways and transport (£4.4 billion) – covering issues like highways maintenance and the concessionary fares scheme for buses.

Meanwhile, the pothole repair time has surged from an estimated 10.9 years in 2006 to 14 years in 2016. Councils fix almost two million potholes a year – an average of 12,000 potholes for each local authority. Yet the average English authority currently faces a £69 million estimated one-off cost to bring its roads up to a reasonable condition.

To reverse this trend, the LGA is calling for the Government to inject a further £1 billion a year into roads maintenance. This could be achieved by investing just 2p per litre of existing fuel duty. This should not be paid for by increasing fuel duty rates. Previous LGA polling shows that 83 per cent of the population would support a small amount of the existing billions they pay the Treasury each year in fuel duty being reinvested to help councils bring our roads up to scratch.

This would help tackle the damage done to our roads by recent harsh winters and decades of underfunding by successive governments, which has seen the national backlog of road repairs spiral.

Cllr Martin Tett, LGA Transport spokesman, said:

“Motorists should literally be bracing themselves for a surge in potholes. Our local roads network faces an unprecedented funding crisis and the latest spike in lorries could push our local roads network over the edge. Lorries exert massively more weight on road surfaces than cars, causing them to crumble far quicker.

“This year could be a tipping point year regarding potholes and councils, who have experienced significant budget reductions, now face the looming prospect of a bill of £14 billion to bring the nation’s roads up to scratch.

“It is wrong and unfair that the Government allocates almost 40 times more to maintaining national roads, which it controls, compared with local roads, which are overseen by councils. It is paramount this funding discrepancy is swiftly plugged.

“It is becoming increasingly urgent to address the roads crisis we face as a nation. Councils fixed a pothole every 15 seconds again last year despite significant budget reductions leaving them with less to spend on fixing our crumbling roads. Local authorities are proving remarkably efficient in how they use this diminishing funding pot but they remain trapped in a frustrating cycle that will only ever leave them able to patch up our deteriorating roads.

“Councils share the frustration of motorists having to pay to drive on roads that are often inadequate. Our polling has shown that 83 per cent of the population would support a small amount of the existing billions they pay the Treasury each year in fuel duty being reinvested to help councils bring our roads up to scratch.

“Our roads crisis is only going to get worse unless we address it as a national priority. The Government’s own traffic projections predict a potential increase in local traffic of up to 55 per cent by 2040. Councils need long-term and consistent funding to invest in the resurfacing projects which our road network desperately needs over the next decade.

“Motorists pay billions to the Treasury each year in fuel duty when they fill up their car at the pumps only to then have to drive on roads that are decaying after decades of underfunding. They deserve roads fit for the 21st century.”

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