The 2023 Pothole Crisis Deepens As Roads Deteriorate Further

The Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey for 2023 by the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) shows UK roads worsening and deteriorating faster than they are being repaired.

Every year the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) commissions an independent survey of local authority highway departments in England and Wales. This report provides a detailed insight into the funding and conditions of the local road network, based on information provided directly by those responsible for its maintenance.

And for 2023 it's not looking good. According to the AIA's report this year, 18 per cent of roads in the UK will be undrivable in five years’ time unless billions of pounds of investment are made. In fact, a total of £14 billion is needed to fix all of England and Wales’ potholes and get the country’s roads back up to standard.

Why is this number significant? It's a £2 billion jump from the 2022 ALARM survey and a £5 billion jump from 2012 when a total of £9 billion was needed to fix the roads that year.

This is showing that every year the roads deteriorate further than can be fixed, to the point where each year the cost is getting bigger and bigger to fix the state of the UK's roads. The AIA report suggests that 37,000 miles of road in the UK will be 'undrivable' within the next five years and are classified as 'poor' roads.

The AIA classifies roads based on their life left. Good, meaning more than 15 years left. Adaquete, meaning between 5 to 15 years and finally poor, which means less than 5 years left.

Recently, the Department for Transport (DfT) promised another £200 million added to the pothole fixing pot for the 2023 Spring budget. Meaning there is a total budget of £700 million now. But the AIA and other motoring groups have said this is woefully inadequate, given they need a total of £14 billion to fix the state of the roads today.

If things continue as they are, by 2025 it's possible we will need nearly £20 billion to fix the UK roads. 

It's a vicious cycle, as more people are buying large SUVs with big alloys and suspensions to contend with our pothole-laden roads. But these particular vehicles are just adding to the issue of more potholes being created on our roads.

Rich Green, chairman of the AIA has highlighted the results of the survey saying:

"The findings of this year’s ALARM survey make for bleak, if not unsurprising, reading. Local roads underpin all other local services, but findings show a worsening picture in their overall conditions and the means to improve them."

"It's clear from the column inches and social media posts devoted to potholes that the condition of our local roads remains a key issue for the public. Materials innovation and technical advances can only go so far – they are not a silver bullet. Without a change to the funding structure and the amount allocated, local road conditions can’t – and won’t – improve."

If the DfT doesn't devote more money to fixing our country's roads, it's possible in a few years it will feel like we're driving across the surface of the moon with all its craters thanks to endless meteorite strikes.