LGA responds to RAC Foundation report on road bridges

Responding to analysis by the RAC Foundation which shows that the cost of clearing the maintenance backlog for council-managed bridges in the UK has increased by a third to £6.7 billion in the past year, Cllr Martin Tett, Transport spokesman for the Local Government Association, said:

“This survey underlines the chronic need for more investment in existing local roads.

“The Government is spending 52 times more on maintaining our national roads – which make up just 3 per cent of all roads – than on local roads, which are controlled by councils and make up 97 per cent of England’s road network.

“While the extra one-off £420 million funding announced in the Budget will help, only long-term, consistent and fairer government investment in local road maintenance can allow councils to embark on the widespread improvement of our roads and bridges that is desperately needed.

“The LGA has been calling on the Government to annually reinvest a portion of existing fuel duty into local road maintenance which would generate much needed funding for councils to spend on addressing the £9.3 billion roads repair backlog which would give all road users better roads that are safer and more resilient to constant use.”