Potholes in road policies
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• Road users are not getting value for money and are entitled to a much higher standard of road maintenance than county and district councils are currently delivering, says the Freight Transport Association's controller of planning and traffic services Don McIntyre.
County councils spend over 21 billion each year on roads, and the Audit Commission says that in order to provide value for money to road-users, taxpayers and rate-payers, change is urgently required in road management to achieve savings worth £100 million.
McIntyre told a conference organised by the Audit Commission and the Association of Municipal Engineers that industry is seriously concerned that, despite mounting evidence of severe deterioration in their roads, few counties had any system for allocating funds according to need.
The Audit Commission suggested that more direct control of road affairs might be taken by central government if local government failed to produce better service.
Any attempts by the Government to fund the national road network by privatisation and tolls would be strongly opposed by the powerful Automobile Association: "What is needed is a central, independent body to manage a longterm national road programme free from political interference," says the AA.
Nonetheless, a solution is vital. British Road Federation chairman Olaf Lambert told MPs last week that a third of trunk road improvement schemes are being held up through shortage of funds. "Less than a year ago the Dip published its plans to start work on 92 new schemes between April 1987 and March 1989. Only 30 will start in 1987/88 and only 35 are planned for the following year. This leaves 27 outstanding."