Stop The Potholes
UK Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has again backed the Labour manifesto commitment to tackle the roads pothole scandal by fixing over one million more potholes in a year than the previous government.
Potholes have littered streets across the UK, damaging vehicles and injuring motor trade drivers and other road users.
The transport minister recently met with councillors and road workers to analyse the work currently being undertaken to fix the problem while learning about how advanced technology is used to spot the defects and help get repairs underway quickly.
Blackpool’s ‘Project Amber’ uses advanced imaging technology to capture high-definition photos of road networks and gather data on the urgency of repair once potholes have been identified. The plan is to roll out a similar system throughout the country to help our neglected roads and prevent motorists from claiming expensive vehicle repairs on their insurance policies.
Louise Haigh said: “For too long, this country has suffered from a pothole plague. Our roads have become a constant and visible reminder of the decline in our country’s infrastructure, which stunts economic growth.
“From drivers to bikers to cyclists, everyone who uses our roads deserves a safe and pleasant journey. That’s why I’ve pledged to support local authorities to fix up to one million more potholes per year.”
“Blackpool Council are already doing fantastic work to make the most of new technology to repair potholes faster. This should be a model for every community to learn from and help deliver the roads their drivers deserve, so that Britain can get moving.”
Introduced in 2019 by the Local Council Roads Innovation Group, Blackpool was the first local authority to adopt this technology for road repairs. Since then, the council has experienced a notable decrease in its compensation costs related to pothole claims.
Previously, it spent as much as £1.5 million annually to settle these claims, but last year, that amount dropped to just £719.
Simon Williams from the RAC, part of the motor trade industry, said: “The new Government simply must do something differently. Without a promise of far more funds for councils – something we will push hard for ahead of the autumn Budget – its options are extremely limited.
“Put bluntly, the less we spend as a nation on our roads now, the more it will cost us in the future.
“That’s the pattern we’ve been in for years now, as is clearly shown by data from ourselves and from many other parts of the industry.
“So, the ultimate question is this – in terms of the inevitable costs we’ll face in the future, can we really afford not to fix our dilapidated roads?
“Drivers, who contribute billions to the Exchequer in taxes every year, have been driven to despair by a local road network that, in far too many parts of the country, is just going from bad to worse. It shouldn’t be this way.
“They need something to believe in from both national and local government. Anything less than a step change in the condition of the roads over the course of this Parliament simply will not do.”
Another big debate amongst motorists is roadworks. Mark Francois, Conservative MP, has put forward a new Roadworks Bill. He would like to see local councils stop roadworks when needed and issue larger fines if the companies do not meet deadlines.
Francois said that the proposed bill would give town and city councils new rights to refuse roadworks if they believe it will cause ‘unacceptable disruption’ to drivers and other road users. Francois said: “Let us collectively ‘can the cones’ and keep the traffic flowing as much as we practically can.”
Firstly, local highways authorities would be given more powers to control who would be given permits to carry out roadworks. The bill would also change the penalty system for roadworks that are overrunning and unnecessarily delaying drivers.
The aim is to ease congestion and reduce the amount of time that drivers spend in traffic caused by delayed roadworks. Labour’s current roads minister Lilian Greenwood supports the proposed bill.
