Councils ‘need £10bn’ for pothole repairs
It will take English councils 11 years to clear the road maintenance backlog, while Welsh councils will take 17 years, a report from the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) said.
With the average cost of filling in potholes ranging from £35 in Wales to £55 in England, around £90m was spent on pothole work last year.
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Hide AdCouncils in England and Wales have, in total, an annual road maintenance funding shortfall of nearly £800m, with the average for each English council being £5.3m.
The AIA report also showed that damage caused by the harsh winter of 2010/11 cost £600m, with two-thirds of councils unable to make good this damage.
The AIA said the additional Government funding of £200m to help councils, although welcome, “has proven woefully inadequate”.
Overall, the AIA said the estimated “one-off” cost to get roads back into reasonable condition was nearly £10bn.