The state of the UK’s roads is becoming an increasing problem according to a new RAC report.
Potholes in particular are causing more and more issues for drivers across the UK.
Between the months of January and March 2017, the RAC reported a total of 6,500 incidents that could be a result of poor road surfaces. The last time that so many pothole-related breakdowns were recorded in a three-month period was in the first quarter of 2015 (almost 6,900 breakdowns were recorded then). However, in the early months of 2015, the country was subjected to more days of frost and rainfall when compared to the first three months of 2017, when the nation experienced mild and moderately dry conditions.
David Bizley, a chief engineer at the RAC, commented: “Our figures sadly show a surprising and unwelcome first quarter rise in the number of breakdowns where the poor quality of the road surface was a major factor. We had expected a figure no worse than that recorded in the first quarter of 2016 (4,026) and it is very concerning that the roads, strangely, appear to have deteriorated in a mild, comparatively dry winter.”
Pothole hotspots
The top ten locations that have reported the most number of road hazards to FillThatHole.co.uk are as follows:
The results differ if we look at how many reports are still currently open:
Frequency of potholes being filled in
According to the Asphalt Industry Alliance’s Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance Survey 2017, the average number of potholes filled in 2016/17 was 13,468, per local authority across England.
The top ten authorities ranked on fixed reports in FillThatHole.org.uk’s league table is as follows:
Number of drivers reporting damage in the past 12 months (ranked by region)
Average cost to repair pothole damage (ranked by region)
Structural road condition percentage split in England
- Percentage of roads across England in good condition (i.e. they have 15 years or more residual life remaining) — 53 per cent.
- Percentage of roads across England in adequate condition (i.e. they have between five and 15 years’ residual life remaining) — 30 per cent.
- Percentage of roads across England in poor condition (i.e. they have less than five years’ residual life remaining) — 17 per cent.
