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Highway defects
reach new record high, NRMCS figures reveal - By Eugene Silke
The long
decline of the local road network continued last year, even though the squeeze
on highway maintenance spending by English councils began to ease.
Deterioration was concentrated on unclassified roads, according to the year 2000
National Road Maintenance Condition Survey. England's principle roads and the
trunk roads and motorway networks in England saw slight improvements. But the
structural state of strategic routes in Wales deteriorated, following a deep cut
in maintenance spending the year before.
Sharper deterioration in urban roads and rural unclassified roads is to blame
for another record total for defects in the survey's 23 year history. The visual
survey has been showing worsening disrepair on local roads since the early
1990s. However, both urban A-roads and classified roads showed an improvement in
2000. The structural survey suggests that the underlying state of English trunk
roads improved, while motorways and principal roads were unchanged. However, in
Wales 12.7% of trunk roads required investigation (up from 10.8%). For
motorways, the proportion with a negative residual life was 6.6% (6.0%) - double
the English equivalent. Skidding resistance was measured at the sampled sites
for the first time, giving a base for future surveys. It showed that only 1% of
motorway was at the investigatory level, compared with 7% for trunk roads and
15-24% for principal roads. Footway condition was unchanged overall, although
'trips' continued their upward trend since the mid-1990s. Improvements in verges
in 1998 and 1999 were reversed, but kerbs retained their generally good
condition. The report notes that the downward trend in maintenance expenditure
on local roads since 1993/94 ended in 1999/00 with a 4% increase in real terms.
But Welsh councils' expenditure fell by 6%, and spending on motorways and trunk
roads shrank by 18% with a 36% reduction in structural maintenance.
'The report shows exactly why the government has doubled the amount of spending
by local authorities on road maintenance,' said transport minister Lord Whitty.
The £1bn capital settlement for this year and next would double spending and
included classified and non-classified roads for the first time. The 10-year
transport plan was set to stop local roads deteriorating by 2004 and the clear
the backlog by the end of that period, he added. That target was achievable,
said John Elkins, chairman of the survey's central and local government
executive group. The NRMCS results vindicated the position of practitioners who
had voiced concerns five years ago, he said. 'It's really heartening that the
survey has caught up with perceptions.' It underlined the importance of the
decision to increase resources and the capitalise expenditure on non-principal
roads, which had suffered from the local government spending squeeze. But Elkins
added, 'There is no room for complacency with the condition of the national road
network.'
Article Source: Surveyor Magazine, 3 May 2001
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