21 May 2009
UTILITIES MUST PAY FOR PATCHWORK ROADS SAYS REPORT
Utility companies that dig up England’s roads causing deterioration and leaving an ugly patchwork should be made to pay towards the £70 million bill local authorities face for additional maintenance costs, according to a new report.
The report from CSS – which represents local authority directors responsible for roads – in partnership with Transport for London, says that reinstatement of utility trenching causes visual and structural damage which shortens the life of roads and adds greatly to long-term costs.
With local authority highways budgets increasingly overstretched, the report prepared by TRL says charges should in future be levied on those who trench the highways and calls for Government regulation using existing legislation. It suggests a charging structure which would vary according to the previous condition of the road and the volume of usage. The levy proposed per square metre would range between £28 for lightly trafficked roads and £45 for those carrying most vehicles. Footways would be similarly charged between £11 and £23 per square metre. The report insists that even these levels of charging still under-estimate the true costs.
“This follows the established principle that the polluter pays,” says Roger Elphick, who led the project for CSS. “Authorities already have a substantial maintenance backlog and are struggling to cope with the increasing cost of claims against them and the additional damage caused by the past winter. They can no longer afford to devote public money to work that should be funded by those who shorten the life of the road.”
The issue has previously been highlighted by the House of Commons Transport Committee, which reported in 2003 that “patchwork surface repairs contribute significantly to the deteriorating appearance of the urban street scene”. It commented also on the “ugly patchwork quilt of different colour roads and paths”.
The Traffic Management Act 2004 also commented that ‘those who play a part in shortening the life of the road and undermining its visual appearance should contribute towards remedying the detrimental effects they are responsible for’.
Nick Morris, TfL’s Director of Road Network Performance, said, ‘’This report recognises that, no matter how well utility works are patched, they result in long term deterioration of the carriageway surface and the need for extra or premature maintenance works paid for by the public purse from highway authority budgets that are already stretched to capacity.
‘’The report’s suggestion of a charge structure to cover the cost of such long term damage by private utility companies is an equitable proposal and we would encourage Government to progress this under legislation it has already enacted for the purpose.’’
Studies by TRL have shown an average structural life reduction due to trenching of 17 per cent after only six years. The estimated annual total additional maintenance cost of £70 million represents 7.7 per cent of capital expenditure on road and footway maintenance by English local authorities in 2007/08.
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Notes to editors
- CSS represents local authority chief officers who manage some of the most pressing issues facing the UK today. Membership is drawn from all four corners of the United Kingdom with members responsible for three-quarters of the road network, two thirds of the land area and just under half of the population of England and Wales. Operating at the strategic tier of local government, they are closely involved in crucial transport, waste management, environment, planning, energy and economic development issues.
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