News Published on : 22-Nov-2021 17:11:05

New research from the Department for Transport has revealed a rise in local - unclassified - roads needing urgent repair. These roads - for local users rather than traffic passing through that compromise around 60% of all UK roads - present the greatest concern with 17% of road surfaces in need of immediate attention. The survey based on local authority assessment of roads across England during 2019-2021 shows A B and C roads have generally remained in good condition during the pandemic. It reveals 6 % of B and C - minor - roads are in need of urgent repair and the state of these roads has remained stable throughout lockdown. While only 4% of major or A roads are classified as being in need of immediate repairs the situation has got worse in the last two years across the pandemic - after improving over the past decade. Drivers in the South East are most likely to spot inadequate road surfaces for A roads with 4.7% classified as red - in need of immediate repair - followed by the North West registering 4.2%. The North West is the hot spot for poor road surfaces for B roads at 7.2% of all roads followed by the South East at 5.1%. For C roads it is the South West - 9.6% - then the North West - 7.9%. The latest survey was undertaken from 2019-2021 and covers nearly 100 local authorities across all regions in England. Local authorities assessed road surfaces for developments such as cracking and rutting using the Road Condition Indicator methodology which is also used by National Highways to classify road worthiness.