52 times more funding for national than local roads

New analysis from the Local Government Association (LGA) reveals that the government plans to spend £1.1 million per mile to maintain its strategic road network between 2015 and 2020, but only £21,000 per mile for the local roads over the same period.

Therefore, the LGA is urging the government to tackle the disparity in the maintenance funding it provides for national and local roads, so that councils can tackle the £12 billion repair bill, and to deliver a radical new strategy to provide a fully-funded plan for the growing number of vehicles on the nation’s roads.

The association also revealed that there are 125 cars per mile on local roads compared to just 101 cars per mile in 2000. This is causing unprecedented pressure on local transport, causing congestion and road maintenance issues such as potholes, wear-down of road markings, and increasing general wear and tear.

Martin Tett, the LGA’s Transport spokesman, said: “It is wrong that funding for local roads is miles behind that of the strategic road network. Very few journeys begin and end on a motorway or trunk road. Spending 52 times more on improving our national roads will only serve to speed vehicles up between increased delays and congestion on local roads.

“Our local roads form vital arteries for our communities. But with almost 30 per cent more cars now on the nation’s roads than in 2000, they are under more pressure than ever before. Councils are fixing a pothole every 19 seconds despite funding pressures. They want to do more but are trapped in an endless cycle of patching up our deteriorating network. It would already take £12 billion and more than a decade for councils to clear the current local roads repair backlog. Only long-term and consistent investment in local road maintenance can allow councils to embark on the widespread improvement of our roads that is desperately needed, to the benefit of motorists and cyclists up and down the country.”