Hampshire County Council has warned that the cost of restoring its roads to the required standard has risen to between £550m and £600m.
The council says it needs an extra £20m–£30m each year to tackle the backlog, which has been attributed to long-term underinvestment, inflation, rising traffic demand and more frequent extreme weather.
Five-year maintenance plan
The council’s cabinet has backed a five-year highway maintenance strategy focused on preventative maintenance, resurfacing, improved drainage and greater use of technology. The plan is intended to slow the growth of the backlog and improve the network’s condition over the longer term, although the council does not expect to eliminate it within five years.
Tim Lawton, Hampshire County Council’s assistant director for highways, engineering and transport, said the authority’s highway network was worth about £17bn and that the main challenge was the scale of funding available.
“Our challenge is not on strategy or performance, it is fundamentally one of funding and scale,” he said.
The strategy follows a call by the full council for a “major step change” in highway maintenance, including better-quality repairs, more preventative work and improved drainage.
Concerns over repair times
Cllr Jackie Porter questioned whether the proposals went far enough, saying residents were losing confidence because reported faults could take too long to resolve.
“Residents are taught by us as councillors to report faults and repairs needed, but the length and time between that report and repair is far too long. So people report again and again, or come back to all of us to complain that nothing’s been done,” she said.
The strategy is due to go before Hampshire County Council’s full council for further debate on Thursday 1 October.