97% of England’s local road networks ignored in 2023/24
There are 183,054 miles of council-run roads in England, and yet only 3% of them received any kind of maintenance in the 2023/24 financial year.
Road maintenance decline
In total, 4,849 miles of council-run roads were strengthened, resurfaced, or preserved in the 2023/24 financial year. This is an 18% increase (750 miles) compared to the year before, when only 4,144 miles were maintained.
But it’s a 35% decline compared to the 2017/18 financial year when 7,510 miles of road were maintained.
Proportionally, just 817 (5%) of England’s 17,860 miles of A roads were maintained in this last year – down a third (33%) from the 1,222 miles maintained in 2017/18.
The percentage of minor roads is smaller still, with only 2% being maintained. That equals 4,080 out of 165,195 miles.
Over a third of councils did not maintain minor roads
Last year, 36% of 152 councils in England did not do any maintenance on their B, C, and unclassified roads.
RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “Only a slither of England’s total road network is getting any maintenance attention whatsoever. This reinforces our belief that most councils are in a cycle of merely filling potholes, rather than looking after their roads properly.”
Potholes can do all sorts of damage to your car, including distorting wheels, damaging shock absorbers and breaking suspension springs.
Filling in potholes fixes the problem in the short term. But preventative measures like resurfacing, rejuvenation and micro surfacing help stop problems from happening.
Resurfacing fills in microscopic cracks and seals the road. This stops water from getting into the road surface and creating potholes, large cracks and other damage.
If your car has been damaged by potholes, check out our blog on how to claim for pothole damage.