BRF slams state of Britain's roads
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• A withering attack on the state of Britain's roads has been launched by the British Road Federation (BRF).
In a new report, "Maintaining Britain's Roads", the BRF says poor maintenance has left 5,000 miles of major UK road in need of urgent repair.
The report argues that inadequate maintenance is increasing accidents, pollution, congestion and public dissatisfaction.
It claims: • Over the past 10 years traffic has increased by 40% with no real rise in maintenance spending; • Between 1982 and 1990 successful legal claims against local authorities due to poorly maintained roads rose by 226%; • Allowing roads to deteriorate means repairing them costs between four and eight times more than overlaying the surface.
• Where there is disruption due to maintenance work there is a lack of co-ordination to minimise inconvenience.
The BRF makes a number of recommendations to tackle these problems, including better data collection and a 15% increase in road spending.
0 The Refined Bitumen Association (RBA) says a 1% increase in construction costs would mean motorways and major roads could last twice as long, reducing congestion, roadworks and cost.