Road decline is halted
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• Britain's roads are in a worse condition than they were 10 years ago — but their deterioration has now stopped, says the annual National Road Maintenance Condition Survey.
The state of trunk roads has actually improved slightly during the past two years. It is too early to say whether this signals an end to their longterm deterioration, but does suggest that the Department of Transport's renewal programme is working, says transport minister Peter Bottomley. The Government, which sponsors the study with four local authorities' bodies, has promised to eliminate the backlog of motorway and trunk road repairs by 1992.
The Association of County Councils disagrees, saying there is "no ground for optimism" in the latest report. "This gives us no reason to change what we have been saying for years — that unless we increase spending on roads, we are storing trouble for the future," it says.
El Peter Bottomley says that the DTp will spend a record .E142 million on motorways and trunk roads during 1988/89, compared with £113 last year. An additional 242 million is being spent on bridges.