The number of UK drivers concerned about the condition of local roads has reached record levels, according to a new survey by the RAC. The motoring organisation found that 56% of the 2,700 drivers surveyed listed the poor state of council-maintained roads as their top concern, a 21 percentage point increase over concerns about the cost of vehicle insurance.
The RAC has urged the government to provide councils with more funding to repair pothole-ridden roads, which have deteriorated due to years of underinvestment. Central government funding for local services was cut by 40% in real terms between 2010 and 2020, and a report by the Asphalt Industry Alliance estimated it would cost over £16bn to fix the backlog of road repairs, up from £14bn last year.
Separate RAC data revealed that its operatives attended more than 25,000 pothole-related breakdowns in the past 12 months. The survey also showed that 73% of drivers believed local roads were in a worse state than a year ago, compared to 67% last year.
Simon Williams, the RAC's head of policy, said: “It is absolutely remarkable that, on average, drivers we surveyed are far more concerned about the state of their local roads this year than they are about either the cost of motor insurance – which has been rocketing in recent years – or the cost of fuel which is still at an uncomfortably high level. If this doesn’t underline the seriousness of the situation we now find ourselves in, we’re not sure what does.”
The previous Conservative government pledged £8.3bn for local road repairs, funded by savings from scrapping the northern leg of HS2. Labour has promised an extra £64m a year to fix an additional 1m potholes annually, but has faced criticism for cutting infrastructure funding. A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Rebuilding Britain means modernising our transport infrastructure, and we are absolutely committed to tackling the poor state of our local roads.”
