UK finance minister Rachel Reeves today in the country's budget allocated an extra £500mn ($650mn) to road maintenance, but this will do little to tackle road conditions in the country, according to industry organisation the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA).
Reeves also confirmed the HS2 rail link between Old Oak Common in west London and Birmingham, with tunnelling work to extend the line to London's Euston station.
AIA chair David Giles said that although it was encouraging to hear acknowledgement that the condition of our local roads is a reminder of the failure to invest as a nation, it was disappointing that the opportunity to deliver a step change was missed.
Giles welcomed the additional £500mn for highway maintenance next year, but said that it "falls short of the long-term funding horizon the sector has been calling for". England alone needs £14.4bn, as a one time catch up cost, according to the AIA. "This additional allocation is a fraction of what's needed to prevent further decline,"he said.
One time catch up cost is the amount needed to as a one-off to bring the network
up to a condition that would allow it to be managed cost effectively going forward as part of a proactive asset, according to the organisation.
The AIA was hoping for a multi-year ringfenced commitment allowing local authorities to plan and proactively carry out the effective maintenance needed to drive improvement on local roads, Giles said.
Government data show UK bitumen consumption slipped to 1.54mn t in 2023, the lowest since 2016. Consumption was 1.89mn t in 2021 and 1.56mn t in 2022. In the first seven months of this year consumption was 835,000t, 9pc down from 917,000t in the same period of 2023.
