Road funding boost covers just 6% of shortfall

Road maintenance campaign website, Potholes.co.uk, has expressed its disappointment in the Government’s announcement today of an extra £66 million being put towards the upkeep of roads in England.

The money, which is in addition to the £2.1 billion already put aside for highway maintenance, was announced by Transport Minister, Paul Clarke, today but, with a national shortfall of £1 billion in road funding, Potholes.co.uk says the additional cash is merely a drop in the ocean.

“Obviously, any extra funding for road maintenance is welcome, but a boost at this level is not going to come anywhere close to making the difference that’s needed,” said Duncan McClure Fisher, managing director of Warranty Direct, which created Potholes.co.uk in 2007 to highlight the poor state of the UK’s roads.

“The Government’s road maintenance coffers are already underfunded by £1 billion so, in reality, the extra funds announced today amount to just six percent of what’s required to adequately maintain our roads. When you consider that the ‘boost’ will also be spread over the next two years, any improvements will be almost negligible.”

Warranty Direct has long been a campaigner for better road maintenance and estimates that, on average, the British motorist coughs up £320 million a year on repairing damage done to cars by potholed roads.