ADEPT comment on Government's response to the Transport Committee report on local roads
Mark Stevens, Chair of the Transport and Connectivity Board for the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning & Transport (ADEPT), said:
“ADEPT welcomes the Government’s support for long-term funding to fix our roads, as outlined in the response to the Transport Select Committee report on local roads funding and maintenance.
“As previously raised in the Asphalt Industry Alliance’s ALARM survey report and by ourselves, the sheer volume of potholes that repeatedly appear throughout the country is the end product of year-on-year deterioration from the chronic underinvestment in the maintenance of the country’s local roads network.
“We have been working closely with the Department for Transport to bring innovation to local roads through our joint SMART Places Live Labs programme and to share best practice through the Pothole Guide released in March 2019.
“Local highways authorities continue to fulfil their part in terms of greater efficiency, but more funding certainty through a long-term, larger scale settlement and a single pot for innovation will enable us to effectively and creatively clear the estimated £9.7 billion maintenance backlog, thereby transforming our roads and making them fit for the future."