Potholes mean a fifth of roads need re-laying in next 5 years

NEARLY a fifth of local roads are in ‘poor’ condition and need digging up within five years due to potholes and other damage, a report revealed.

Some 35,000 miles of high streets, residential and country roads need resurfacing by 2026, according to the study.

Of these, at least 18,500 miles of roads have such shoddy surfaces that they may need digging up and re-laying within the next 12 months.

Road engineers are now on average filling a pothole every 19 seconds on local authority-controlled roads, with 1.7million filled over the last year.

Potholes can be potentially deadly for cyclists and can damage a car’s wheels, shock absorbers and suspension springs.

The study, by the asphalt Industry alliance, also found that local roads outside of london are resurfaced only every 83 years on average, compared to similar roads in the capital which are redone every 32 years.

The report suggested that it would cost £10billion to clear the current backlog of maintenance required on local roads in England and Wales.

aa chief Edmund King said the report exposed ‘the perilous state of many roads blighted by potholes which can injure those on two wheels and cause expensive damage to those on four wheels’.

Over the last year, there was a 15 per cent increase in budgets for fixing roads – partly due to the Government’s £2.5billion Pothole Fund. Though the overall figure spent on road repair was still lower when compared to two years ago.

The study noted that the fund has led to a focus on short term fixes, such as pothole filling, rather than longerterm solutions like re-laying and resurfacing roads.