A quarter of London’s roads nearing the end of their safe life

A quarter of roads in London now have less than five year’s structural life remaining, reports this year’s Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey.

The ALARM survey, published today (March 22, 2022) by the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), highlights the scale of the worsening issue faced by highway engineers in the capital who are suffering from reduced funding, compounded by increased costs caused by rising inflation.

Average highway maintenance budgets are down 5% and less is being invested in the carriageway itself, resulting in a 12.5% drop in the amount available to maintain the road surface and structure – less than half of what the capital’s highway engineers say they need.

London boroughs report that they would have needed an extra £163 million (more than £5 million for each London borough) last year just to reach their own target road conditions, before even thinking about tackling the backlog* of repairs.

Rick Green, AIA Chair, said: “Highway authority teams have a legal responsibility to keep our roads safe, but do not have the funds to do so in a cost effective, proactive way. As a result, while they report some slight improvements in surface conditions, the overall structure of roads in the capital continues to decline.

“Although surface repairs have a part to play in extending the life of local roads, short-term fixes, including filling potholes, is indicative of a network that is ‘on the edge’ and less efficient and sustainable when it comes to materials usage and whole-life carbon emissions.”

This year marks the 27th successive ALARM survey, which received responses from 66 per cent of local authorities in London. It reports local roads funding and conditions based on information provided directly by those responsible for its maintenance.

The findings of ALARM 2022, which relate to the 2021/22 financial year, show that in London:

• 24% of roads could need to be rebuilt in the next five years – nearly 2,200 miles of the network
• The backlog of carriageway repairs to fix local roads in the capital is £804 million – or almost £88,000 for every mile
• The majority of authorities (57%) reported a freeze or year-on-year reduction in highways maintenance funding.
• Only 10% of highway maintenance budgets came from central government sources with local borough sources – such as borrowing and parking fees – funding the rest. This follows the pattern seen since 2018 when the government withdrew funding to TfL.
• Roads are only resurfaced on average once every 31 years

Rick Green added: “The link between continued underinvestment and the ongoing structural decline and below par surface conditions of our local roads is clear. The country’s ambitions to encourage active travel, plus cutting waste and carbon emissions, will not be achieved with a short-term approach that can’t deliver a first-rate local road network.

“To ensure we have a safe, resilient, sustainable network on which we can all rely, a longer-term approach and significant investment is needed. ALARM 2022 indicates that what is needed in London is an additional £77 million a year over the next decade to address the backlog of repairs and allow highway teams to bring the network up to a point from which it could be cost effectively maintained going forward.”

Commenting on the findings of ALARM 2022, Jack Cousens, Head of Roads Policy at the AA, said: “Each year the debate around roads maintenance degenerates into a blame game between local authorities and Government as each claims it is the other’s responsibility to resolve. Local and national government must get round the table and create a fully-funded plan that will help make our roads safer.

There is now a need to focus available road funding on the most basic need: fixing the roads – for the benefit of drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. Despite talks of levelling up, road users would simply like the roads levelled out.”

An embargoed version of the ALARM survey together with supporting resources is available here.

The full ALARM survey will be available to download from 00.01 hours on Tuesday March 22 by visiting www.asphaltuk.org

* The backlog describes the amount that would be needed – as a one-off catch-up cost – to bring the network up to condition that would allow it to be managed cost effectively and sustainably going forward as part of a proactive asset management approach.