Londoners win £4m in pothole payouts

LONDON road users received more than £4 million in compensation last year following accidents and damage caused by deteriorating roads, figures show.

It comes as the capital’s local authorities say they now face an £86.7 million shortfall in their annual carriageway maintenance budget received from Government, double the £39.9 million shortfall reported the year before.

The Annual Local Authority Road Mai n t e n a n c e S u r ve y 2 01 6, whi c h excludes the main Red Route roads run by Transport for London, estimates it would need £706 million to bring the capital’s roads up to scratch in a onetime “catch up” cost, with an average bill of £22.1 million per borough.

It estimates clearing the maintenance backlog in London would take 16 years, at current rates of repair.

The ALARM survey, compiled by the Asphalt Industry Alliance, says underfunding, adverse weather and increased traffic are “relentlessly undermining” the resilience of the local road network in England and Wales. The AIA said the Government’s recent announcement of a £50 million Pothole Action Fund for England would “do nothing” to make up for “decades of underfunding”.

Local authorities in London filled in 131,151 potholes last year, costing an average £80 per pothole as part of a planned programme, compared with £47 in the rest of England, says the survey. “Emergency” potholes cost an average of £94 to repair in London.

Overall, London authorities (excluding TfL) spent £11.4 million filling in potholes last year. Paying out the £4.1 million in compensation cost an additional £2.4 million in staff time, bringing total claim costs to £6.5 million.

Authorities in England paid out £8.9 million in compensation, and £486,000 in Wales. Nationally, local authorities had to fill in nearly 2.2 million potholes last year, at a cost of £118.4 million.