Local authorities have announced which roads will benefit from the first tranche of reallocated HS2 funding for pothole repairs and resurfacing.
A nationwide programme of pothole repairs and road resurfacing projects is now underway in England, using the £8.3bn of roads funding pledged on the back of scrapping the second phase of HS2.
The roads funding boost – part of the £36bn Network North transport plan from funding previously earmarked for HS2 – has already allocated £150m to local highway authorities across England in the last financial year, followed by a further £150m for 2024/2025, with the rest of the funding allocated through to 2034.
The Department for Transport has now revealed 102 of the 119 authorities that received funding have responded to its survey request to set out their plans, which are available on their websites.
Among the regions pledging to resurface the highest volume of roads are the West Midlands (600,000 square metres) and East Midlands (350,000 square metres), with plans outlined for problem spots across the country including: the A43 at Towcester, the A164 between Beverley and Hessle, and the A4146 at Leighton Buzzard.
Meanwhile, residents in areas such as Southport and Sunderland have already seen major resurfacing work take place under funding issued in the last financial year. And local authorities up and down the country are also using emerging techniques and equipment to tackle potholes, including the use of durable carbon-neutral material in South Yorkshire, ‘dragon patching’ equipment in Suffolk, ‘pothole pro’ patching in Telford and Wrekin and artificial intelligence for highway inspections in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
As a condition of this funding, and to make sure money is being spent on pothole repairs, local authorities are required to publish a two-year plan detailing exactly which local roads will benefit. The DfT has warned that local authorities failing to publish reports could see the withdrawal of future funding.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: “We’re on the side of drivers, which is why this Government is getting on with delivering our plan to invest an additional £8.3bn in the biggest-ever funding increase for local road improvements, made possible by reallocated HS2 funding.
“Alongside this unprecedented funding, which is already being used to improve local roads, we’re making sure local people can hold their local authority to account and see for themselves how the investment will be spent to improve local roads for years to come.”
RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “It’s very encouraging to see so many local authorities quickly setting out how they’ll use the first tranche of the Government’s reallocated HS2 funding to improve their roads.
“Drivers will be pleased to see potholes fixed and roads resurfaced, especially as our research shows the poor state of local carriageways is their number one concern. We hope councils will also use this extra money to carry out vital surface dressing work which helps prevent cracking in the cold winter months by sealing roads against water ingress. The prime time for this life-extending work is between April and September, so time is of the essence.”
The Asphalt Industry Alliance also greeted the funding but warned of the need for further action. Its newly published 2024 Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) report reveals that more than half of local roads in England and Wales have less than 15 years’ structural life left while the bill to fix the backlog of repairs has hit a record high of £16.3bn.
Rick Green, chair of the industry body, said: “It is clear that the additional money, while welcome, is not going to be enough to halt the ongoing decline in conditions. We need to get to the point where local authority highway engineers can plan and proactively carry out repairs and preventative works in the most timely and efficient way to the greatest benefit of all road users.”
Logistics UK also spotlighted the need for a longer-term funding strategy for local roads.
Jonathan Walker, the organisation’s head of cities and infrastructure policy, said: “To support the nation’s supply chain and ensure that deliveries can continue to be made on time, it is vital that government provides a longer-term strategy and funding model to reinforce the UK’s transport infrastructure. This would enable long-term maintenance programmes to be put in place, rather than piecemeal allocations of funding that create a stop-start mentality and interruptions to the transport network.”
