United Kingdom's road repair crisis

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In 2013, the breakdown service Britannia Rescue reported that potholes now “take up a total area of 295 square miles (764 square km) in Britain – more than twice the size of the Isle of Wight”.[1]

In 2023, The Telegraph reported concerning the United Kingdom's road repair crisis:

The pothole crisis is a peculiarly British phenomenon. Deeply unglamorous, moderately frightening and extremely easy to grumble about, the proliferation of potholes on the UK’s decrepit road network is gradually overtaking the weather as a go-to topic of conversation when you bump into someone’s dad in the supermarket.

It’s always been something of a cultural mainstay. Local newspapers rely heavily on disgruntled motorists pointing at potholes for their front page content, and Facebook is awash with groups of people complaining – as is our tradition – about the state of the UK’s roads.

Britain’s road network – upon which we all rely – is crumbling, perhaps irrevocably, into disrepair. And the implications of that go far beyond scratched alloys and dented bumpers...

“It’s grim,” according to Ian Lancaster, director of the Asphalt Industry Alliance. “The figures speak for themselves; £14 billion one-time catch-up costs, which would take 11 years to complete, assuming we have the resources available to do it. It’s grim and I don’t think the public realises how grim it is.”[2]

The United Kingdom (UK) website Fife Today reported in on July 27, 2022, on UK's road repair crisis: "Over 1.5 million potholes were reported across the country, but the AA says the actual number is likely to be much higher as the figure does not include pothole on motorways and major roads, and many go unreported."[3]

In 2022, Sky News published a news article entitled Heatwave: Melting roads, buckling tracks, productivity loss - Britain needs to adapt to more soaring temperatures which indicated:

Britain isn't built for this heat.

Our rail network is only engineered for temperatures up to 30C (86F). Only half our strategic roads are surfaced in heat-resistant material...

Road repairs following the 2003 heatwave cost £41m; damage and delays on the railways cost another £2.5m.[4]

In 2018, it was reported that the United Kingdom's pothole epidemic could cost £9bn and a decade to solve.[5] In December 2018, it was reported that potholes recently increased by third to half a million in UK and there may be as many as 674,000 potholes in the UK.[6]

A 2016 UK Automobile Association study found that 32% of UK drivers have experienced vehicle damage caused by potholes in the last two years.[7]

In 2018, UK roads ranked were ranked 27th in the world which was a ranking below Chile and Cyprus.[8]

The UK's pothole crisis and the UK's cut in its minor roadway budget

In 2018, the website roads.cc reported:

Cycling UK says that cuts to maintenance budgets for minor roads mean that potholes on them are now costing the economy £2.04 billion in 2017 in England alone.

The figure is based on analysis by the Transport Research Laboratory, which has said that for every £1 cut from the maintenance budget, there is a wider economic impact of £1.67.

Since 2009/10, Cycling UK says that maintenance spend on minor roads has fallen by 40 per cent, and that in 2016/17, only 51 per cent of the entire road maintenance budget was spent on them - down from 60 per cent in 2009/10 - despite them making up 88 per cent of the entire road network.[9]

Britain's road repair crisis

The Week reported in 2018: "The AA’s insurance chief, Janet Connor, has described Britain’s broken roads as “nothing short of a national disgrace.”[10]

Britain's pothole crisis is costing drivers and insurance firms at least £1m per month.[11]

In 2013, Britain had one pothole in every mile of road.[12] In 2013, the breakdown service Britannia Rescue reported that potholes now “take up a total area of 295 square miles (764 square km) in Britain – more than twice the size of the Isle of Wight”.[13]

Cost of fixing potholes soars to ‘unprecedented’ levels as majority of UK’s bitumen was previously imported from Russia

The United States, Canada, Germany, France, Australia and several other countries have faster roads than the UK according to the International Monetary Fund

The United States, Canada, Germany, France, Australia and several other countries have faster roads than the UK according to the International Monetary Fund.[14]

See also

Humor:

External links

Notes

  1. POTHOLE PANDEMIC COSTING BRITISH TAXPAYER £MILLIONS, WheelWright
  2. The pothole crisis is a peculiarly British phenomenon, The Telegraph, April 11, 2023
  3. Fife worst in Scotland for potholes, Fife Today website, July 27, 2022
  4. Heatwave: Melting roads, buckling tracks, productivity loss - Britain needs to adapt to more soaring temperatures, Sky News, July 17, 2022
  5. Pothole HELL: UK motorists let down as pothole crisis could cost £9bn & a DECADE to solve, Express, 2018
  6. Potholes increase by third to half a million in UK piling on motoring misery, Mirror, 2018
  7. How big is the pothole problem?
  8. UK roads ranked worse than Chile and Cyprus in global survey, Motors.co.uk
  9. Cycling UK: Potholes on minor roads are costing the economy £2 billion a year, roads.cc
  10. Britain’s broken roads cost drivers £1m a month, The Week, 2018
  11. Britain’s broken roads cost drivers £1m a month
  12. POTHOLE PANDEMIC COSTING BRITISH TAXPAYER £MILLIONS, WheelWright
  13. POTHOLE PANDEMIC COSTING BRITISH TAXPAYER £MILLIONS, WheelWright
  14. Where Are the World’s Fastest Roads?, International Monetary Fund blog, June 15, 2022