UK roads crumbling, says report
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■ Britain's roads are in the worst condition for decades, according to a government report published last week.
Motorists face a host of problems, ranging from potholes and ruts to entire carriageways crumbling.
The report, compiled annually since 1977, provides a snapshot of roads ranging from trunk routes to country lanes. Although the quality of motorways and trunk roads has remained constant since last year, the condition of main roads in urban areas was 18% worse than a decade earlier despite some signs of improvement.
The worst deterioration occurred on local authority unclassified roads.
The Freight Transport Association warns: "The quality of road maintenance is not keeping pace with the speed at which roads are falling apart.
"That generates costs for our industry."
• Designated truck-and-bus only lanes could soon operate on some of the busiest stretches of the motorway network.
The scheme is part of a Highways Agency traffic management project—but the agency stresses that they will not be permanent.
Some £40m has been invested by the government in this and a host of other jambeating measures, including lane and access control systems to make better use of road space.
The project will be trialled on the northern part of the M25 or part of the motorway network around Birmingham.