Welsh road repair backlog to cost £1bn

Clearing the backlog of repairs on rural and urban roads across Wales will cost up to £1bn, a report by the Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE) has revealed.

Rural and urban road in Wales are in such a state that experts are now calling for an independent adviser to tackle the problem in the long-term.

Welsh road users suffer far worse than their English or Scottish counterparts, but the most severe problems are on roads maintained by councils, said the Local Transport Survey 2003.

The poor state of non-trunk roads was made worse because local authorities did not always spend their highway repairs budget on the works.

The study, which revealed that 75% of Britain's roads, footpaths and cycleways deteriorated in the past year, also showed that trunk roads, which are looked after by the Welsh assembly in Wales, are better maintained.

John Sanders, chairman of the ICE municipal engineering board, said it was currently up to each local authority to decide "how much of their allocated highways maintenance budget they spend accordingly".

"In some instances, little more than half is currently used to address the deterioration," he said.

"We want to see both revenue and capital funding for transport ring-fenced and allocated amounts guaranteed beyond elections."

The ICE also said its planners were frustrated by what it called a "patch and mend, sticking plaster" mentality when it comes to keeping the roads up to scratch.