Roads wait 78 years to be resurfaced

by Kathy Watson



Highways authorities throughout the UK can only afford to resurface their roads once every 78 years instead of the recommended 10 to 20, according to a survey by the Refined Bitumen Association.

RBA claims one third of the money received is spent on costly reactive maintenance rather than planned preventative work, and the need for structural maintenance has increased by 75% over the past 10 years.

Respondents claimed the current allocations for road maintenance are "woefully inadequate" and a huge drop on previous years.

But the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions denied that the claims held good for English local authorities. A spokesman said: "Maintenance is our top priority. We are committed to restoring the money cut in the 1990s, but it will take time."

He said the Government is spending £2.9bn on maintenance this year, up from £2.5bn last year. By 2002, it will have increased by 20% on the last years of the previous government. DETR will launch its own road condition survey next month.