More than half of the local road network in England and Wales has less than 15 years of structural life left because of insufficient allocation of government funding to local authorities, according to the latest Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey.
The survey, compiled annually by UK industry body Asphalt Industry Association (AIA), found that 52pc, or around 106,000 miles, of the English and Welsh road network managed by local authorities had just 15 years life remaining, and that nearly a third of these roads — around 34,600 miles — may only have up to five years life left.
The survey found that in the next 12 months, 24,400 miles, or 12pc, of the network is likely to need some form of maintenance and that just 1.5pc of the local road network was resurfaced over the last year.
Although there has been over £20bn ($26bn) spent on carriageway maintenance in England and Wales over the last decade, "due to the short-term nature of the allocation of funding, it has resulted in no quantifiable uplift to the condition and resilience of the network," AIA Chair David Giles said.
He added there needs to be a complete change in mindset away from short-term to longer term funding commitments, and he asked the UK government to set a minimum five-year funding horizon and substantially increase investments for local roads maintenance work.
UK bitumen consumption has been steadily falling in recent years, with another 10.5 decline registered in 2024, hitting its lowest levels since 2016, according to UK government's department for energy security and net zero (DESNZ) data.
The consumption drop coincided with a 20.3pc jump to 449,000t in UK production of the heavy oil product used mainly in road paving as well as general construction, combining to sharply reduce the country's bitumen import requirements.
The ALARM survey also found that there had been no improvements in as much as 94pc of the England and Wales local network over the last year.
To maintain their network, the survey showed that in England and Wales, local authorities would have needed an extra £7.4m each in 2024 and £16.81bn in total, as a one-off cash injection, to bring their networks up to their "ideal" conditions.
