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Motoring news

Public 'dissatisfied' with UK roads

17/09/2009

Public satisfaction with the condition of the UK's roads has continued to fall throughout 2009, according to the latest report by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE).

According to the group's third-quarter report on attitudes to public services, only 54% of people are satisfied with the state of the UK's roads and highways.

This is down from 62% at the start of the year, and 58% in Q2. It represents the third successive quarterly fall.

The ICE report places public confidence in the roads below that in other key public services, such as drinking water and sewage (84%), rubbish and waste disposal (74%), domestic electricity and gas supply (73%), public transport (64%) and the provision of flood defences (63%).

Despite this, 1,009 ICE members also polled for the report placed rubbish and waste as the primary area that should receive investment, ahead of the road network in second place.

February saw an epidemic of potholes, after freezing weather caused many thousands of "gaping sores" to open up across the UK's road network. In April, a report claimed that they are costing motorists £1 million a day.

ICE director-general Tom Foulkes said: "Funding for maintenance tends to focus on quick-fix reactive work which rarely tackles the underlying cause of damage and fails to prolong the life of the road.

"It is also costly as it usually needs to be repeated regularly.

"The focus needs to be on planned, preventative maintenance programmes that provide better value for money."

The Asphalt Industry Alliance's ALARM survey estimated that a catch-up programme to fix all the problems in the network would cost each local authority in England £58.2 million, while this fell to £38.3 million for each London authority and £22.3 million for those in Wales.