Is the ‘pothole fund’ potless?

13 April 2012  

A SUM of money has been pledged to the government to move away from simply ‘patching up’ urban and rural roads and creating a culture of continuous maintenance. However a road safety charity has questioned if the money will even cover basic repairs.

Minister for Local Transport Norman Baker has launched a ‘review’ of the crumbling holes, saying: “We all know the misery that potholes can cause to highway users and local communities and the recent series of harsh winters has only served to intensify the situation.”  He went on to talk about how it would be cheaper and more desirable to maintain roads rather than the ‘patch and mend’ approach currently employed. The minister has pledged £3bn of improvements over four years.

Ian Best, Chairman of the Institute of Advanced Motorists was not impressed with the announcement: “£3bn over four years is less than a quarter of what councils need to get the roads back into shape.  [The money] equates to around £20 per driver a year, a small amount in comparison to the money spent on car taxes and duties.”

Last year a warranty company calculated that the average claim for even minor suspension repair work was several hundred pounds. Although undesirable, the state of the nation’s roads has generated a certain amount of extra work for garages and bodyshops in recent years.