Councils count the cold costs
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by Karen Miles • Freezing conditions on the UK's roads are already leaving some county councils close to exhausting their winter maintenance budgets.
Kent and Norfolk are among counties which have almost spent their winter roads clearance funds following the long freeze.
Kent is considering an application to the Government for emergency funding because it has already spent most of its £3m winter budget. The county has been gritting every day since Christmas Eve when snow was first forecast and since the snow came it has been salting many roads up to four times a day.
Norfolk, which has spent most of its £1.5m winter maintenance budget, may have to transfer funds from routine road maintenance. It expects roads to need extra repairs because of the damage inflicted by the freezing conditions. o See feature on Page 34.
• The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is warning of a £3.4bn maintenance backlog that is having a disastrous effect on the standard of the nation's roads.
The problem is worsened by a shortfall of £2.2bn in the funds and compensation claims against councils as a result of uneven or flooded roads.
ICE president David Green says: "It can cost three times as much to rebuild a road than to maintain it on a regular basis. Almost all roads in Great Britain are local authority roads; we must act now to reduce this backlog and avoid throwing further good money after bad."
The findings do not apply to motorways and trunk roads which are not under the direct control of local authorities.