Potholed roads are a 'national disgrace'

The condition of local roads have been described as a "national disgrace" after a new report outlined the true cost of fixing potholes.

According to the Asphalt Industry Alliance, it would cost £1.94bn to clear the backlog of road repairs across the West Midlands.

In its latest Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey, it found that only 46% of carriageways in the region were in a good condition.

David Giles, chair of alliance, said the findings showed "any noticeable improvements lie a long way off".

The Government has allocated £1.6bn to fix potholes across the UK for the next four years but Giles said this boost was "no silver bullet" to clear the backlog.

"The condition of our local roads have become a national disgrace," he added.

The survey found local authorities in the region would have needed an extra £117m last year to maintain their network to their own target conditions and prevent further decline.

These include councils in Coventry, Dudley, Herefordshire, Sandwell, Shropshire, Solihull, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Telford and Wrekin, Walsall, Warwickshire, Wolverhampton and Worcestershire.

Birmingham was excluded from the survey as it has a Private Finance Contract (PFI) in place to fund and manage its highway maintenance programmes over a 25-year period.

AA President Edmund King said: "The ALARM 2026 report starkly warns us how much more needs to be done to eradicate this plague of potholes.

"We have been seeing with our own eyes, and feeling with our wheels, how record wet weather linked to substandard roads has led to many local roads becoming patchwork obstacle courses."

During a visit to Birmingham, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the previous Conservative Government had underinvested in the nationals road network and, "it is going to take time to fix".

She added: "We've seen biblical levels of rain at the beginning of this year. That has had an impact on the quality of local road services."

She said the Government had pledged an additional £500m to a total of £1.6bn to help tackle the issue.

"We've given that extra money and we're also making sure councils spend that money wisely," Alexander said.

"Get it right first time, don't have the contractors having to come back to it but also invest in sensible things like preventative road resurfacing which can offer better value for money in the long term."

Last month, West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker doubled funding to make £240m available to Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton to cover highways maintenance for five years from April 2027.

He said: "We continue to invest in our transport network across this region, we've got additional funds – twice what we've had before – to address the regional problem of potholes that blight people's journeys everyday.

"We are taking a very holistic approach to addressing our transport issues. We're investing in our buses, our rail network and we're investing in our Metro too.

"The government has allocated £2.4bn to address my strategic transport priorities in the region – that's a great settlement. It's more than we've ever had before."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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