Mind the gap: Roads to Nowhere?
Within the next five years one in six of our local roads will need to be repaired, or they may face closure, reports this year’s Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey, published on 28 March.
The ALARM survey, produced by the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) a joint venture between MPA Asphalt and Eurobitume UK, is now in its 22nd year and is widely respected throughout industry and local and national government as the most authoritative and comprehensive study into local road maintenance funding and condition.
This year’s report highlights how much of the local roads network is coming to the end of its structural life – and limited resources mean that Local Authorities are increasingly having to make tough decisions on prioritising urgent maintenance work. English Local Authorities are reporting the shortfall in funding totalled nearly £730 million in 2016 alone – the equivalent of £4.3 million each. This is around three times the amount that the DfT has committed to local roads maintenance for 2017/18. In total, Local Authorities say they need over £12 billion (increasing year on year) to bring the network up to scratch and, given adequate funding and resources; it will take well over a decade to implement this one-time catch up.
Our local roads are an asset worth in excess of £400 billion but, at present, less than 1% of their value is annually spent on their maintenance. While highways teams are managing to achieve efficiencies through a smarter asset management approach, there will come a point when there are no further efficiency savings to be found. The resilience of our local roads is at a tipping point and clearing the maintenance backlog remains impossible without a significant increase in funding.
AIA Chairman Alan Mackenzie stated: “This situation is not sustainable and it is time we had a rethink about the future funding of our roads otherwise we will end up with a network that is just not fit for purpose.”
The full 2017 ALARM survey is available to download by visiting www.asphaltuk.org.
In relation to the Strategic Roads Network (SRN), indications are coming forward of additional challenges for the Department for Transport (DfT) and Highways England. The National Audit Office recently published a report on “Progress with the Road Investment Strategy”, which includes key findings on ‘Development and delivery of the first Road Investment Strategy (RIS1)’, ‘Preparing for future Road Investment Strategies’ and a conclusion on Value for Money. The report moves on to provide recommendations for DfT and Highways England to agree an updated delivery plan for RIS1, identifies items of clarity for RIS2 (for 2020-25) and ensure that it (RIS2) “marks a step towards establishing a stable, rolling programme of investment”. In addition, DfT should re-evaluate its approach to the oversight of Highways England.
The NAO report notes that “The Department and Highways England need to agree a more realistic and affordable plan if they are to provide optimal value from the Road Investment Strategy” and 16 projects have been identified as those which “present a risk to value for money”. Proposals to overcome this include revising project design, merging projects on the same stretch of road, cancelling projects and delaying projects to enable further assessment of benefits.
Many of the points discussed and highlighted by the NAO report echo those made recently by MPA to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) in its role as the Highways Monitor. MPA has noted concerns over the inefficient backloading of projects in RIS 1 (with 57 projects planned for procurement in 2017) and stressing the case for transparency in the pipeline of future work. MPA Members’ have also highlighted their commitment to delivering in RIS1 and beyond in its YouTube video: Tomorrow’s Roads.
DfT has also recently released its Official Statistics on Road conditions in England: 2016, attracting media attention in relation to reported increased levels of risk of skidding, particularly on major and high speed roads. Loss of skid resistance is just one factor in determining the need for maintenance on any road, in addition to their overall structural condition. Lack of appropriate maintenance will impact on this factor as well as the widely-appreciated one of potholes. This reported increased risk may also reflect MPA Members’ experience that HE maintenance funding is being diverted to expedite the overspend on capital projects.
MPA Chief Executive, Nigel Jackson, commented: “The timing of these critical reports on the poor condition of our roads networks clearly gives us continuing cause for concern. MPA will continue to encourage earlier and faster delivery of planned investment in local and national roads.
The ongoing underfunding highlighted by ALARM allied to the further potential uncertainty and lack of clarity from Highways England means that the supply chain could face challenges in its existing plans for investing in people, plant and equipment to be ready in the right place at the right time. Those could ultimately impact on efficiency and costs to the public purse. At a time when UK plc needs the safe, robust and reliable routes to export markets and local door to door delivery that our road networks provide, Government and DfT need to think hard about how it effectively ensures their upgrading and maintenance.”
