It is a measure of how entrenched the problem of crumbling, rutted roads has become that we now have an annual event to mark the phenomenon. That鈥檚 right: January 15th is now National Pothole Day and you don鈥檛 usually mark something on an annual basis unless you think it鈥檚 going to be around for years to come.
National Pothole Day might be a new initiative (this is only its second year) but the problem has been around for decades. And every year since 1995 the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), a trade body representing materials producers, has published data on the condition, maintenance and funding of local roads in England and Wales.
Using data collected directly from local authorities, the Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey provides a snapshot of maintenance backlogs, funding shortfalls and the impact of reactive repairs on the local road network.
This year鈥檚 ALARM survey is due for publication soon 鈥� on 17th March.
So with the spotlight currently on potholes, the government has made its own contribution to National Pothole Day, announcing a new rating system designed to show road users just how well their local highway authority (LHA) is tackling the 鈥減othole plague鈥�.
This article was first published in the March 2026 issue of 萝莉原创 Magazine. Sign up online.
The new system uses an appropriately vehicular red-amber-green traffic light system to rate 154 LHAs based on current road condition and how effectively they are spending the 拢7.3bn, announced by chancellor Rachel Reeves in her autumn budget, to fix potholes and invest in long-term measures to maintain roads.
By categorising councils as red, amber or green, the government says it is bringing greater transparency to how England鈥檚 roads are maintained and how public money is spent. The rating is based on three factors: the condition of local roads, how much LHAs are spending on repairs and whether they are following best practice in road maintenance.
The 2025 ALARM survey estimated that a one-off payment of 拢16.81bn was needed to clear the backlog and bring local roads in England and Wales up to a maintainable 鈥渋deal鈥� condition.
The AIA, in a statement issued to coincide with National Pothole Day, noted that in the past decade around 17.5 million potholes have been filled at a cost of almost 拢1.1bn. 鈥淵et the condition of our local roads continues to be a cause of national embarrassment,鈥� it said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not surprising that moaning about potholes has become a national pastime for road users.鈥�
The current government鈥檚 pledge to provide 拢7.3bn of funding to tackle the problem is an improvement on the 拢2.5bn promised by Rishi Sunak in 2020, when he was chancellor. That boiled down to a measly 拢1m per local authority per year from 2020 to 2025. Rachel Reeves has pledged 拢7.3bn over four years, with a record 拢1.6bn for repairs this year alone.
Even so, more than half of the local roads network in England and Wales have less than 15 years鈥� structural life remaining, says the AIA, and some local authorities say their road maintenance budgets need to double for the next five years if they are to make any lasting improvements to the network.
It is broadly accepted that road conditions will only improve if there is a shift from ad hoc reactive repairs 鈥� a 鈥榮ticking-plaster鈥� approach 鈥� to properly-funded planned maintenance. Last year鈥檚 ALARM survey found that, when planned in advance, the average cost of a pothole repair is 拢56.94 whereas the average cost of a reactive repair is 拢87.80.
This article was first published in the March 2026 issue of 萝莉原创 Magazine. Sign up online.
The government鈥檚 new traffic-light rating system can help identify those LHAs that are, or are not, managing their budgets effectively. 鈥淭hose that scored 鈥榞reen鈥�, like Leeds, Sandwell and Manchester, were able to demonstrate they are following best practice, such as investing in more long-term preventative measures rather than just patching up potholes while also maintaining good road conditions and investing significantly into improving local roads,鈥� said the DfT in a press release. Sixteen authorities get the green light.
The overwhelming majority of LHAs, however, are rated 鈥榓mber鈥�. These 125 LHAs all have some room for improvement while the 13 鈥榬ed鈥� rated LHAs are not currently meeting the expected standards in one or more areas 鈥� either the state of their roads, their plans to prevent potholes or their investment into maintaining their road network.
It seems there can be no doubt that a chronic lack of funding is the main reason why the pothole problem has persisted for so long. But the story behind the new rating system is more complex: potholes are a symptom of deeper, long-term challenges, says Luke Brooks, senior commercial manager for packed products at Tarmac.
鈥淧otholes are not just a visible symptom of underinvestment or inefficiency; they are the result of long-term structural pressures on a road network facing demands it was never designed to accommodate,鈥� says Brooks.
As the ALARM figures show, reactive repairs are more costly than those carried out as part of a planned maintenance programme. 鈥淭his aligns closely with what the highways sector has long emphasised: that whole-life cost, not upfront price, should drive decision-making,鈥� says Brooks predictably, given his commercial interest.
鈥淔unding alone does not guarantee better roads. Variation in approach, capacity and monitoring means outcomes can differ across councils. The traffic-light system highlights these differences, but improvement depends on access to the right tools, skills and strategies,鈥� he declares.
Brooks has a product to sell, of course, but he makes a good point: 鈥淥ne factor often overlooked in public discussion is how rapidly the nature of traffic has changed. Vehicles using UK roads are becoming heavier and more powerful, particularly as electric vehicles make up a growing share of the fleet.
鈥淏attery packs add significant weight, while higher torque, advanced braking systems and modern steering place additional stresses on road surfaces,鈥� says Brooks. 鈥淎cademic research has suggested that electric vehicles could increase road wear by 20-40% compared with traditional petrol or diesel cars, purely as a result of mass.鈥�
Brooks points out that most of the local road network was built decades ago to standards never intended for today鈥檚 loading patterns. When heavier vehicles repeatedly travel over ageing surfaces, small defects quickly become structural failures. 鈥淚n that context, potholes are not simply maintenance lapses; they are an inevitable outcome of increased demand and evolving traffic,鈥� he says.
Brooks believes that the DfT鈥檚 green-rated authorities are therefore the ones investing in preventative maintenance rather than relying solely on reactive patching.
Filling the same pothole repeatedly may appear cheaper initially, but it multiplies costs associated with labour, traffic management, disruption and carbon emissions, while affecting public confidence.
So Brooks鈥� suggestion is that LHAs address these challenges efficiently and sustainably by using modern repair materials, such as cold-lay and biogenic asphalt technologies that enable rapid, durable repairs and reduce the need for repeated interventions. You guessed it: products like Tarmac鈥檚 Ultipatch Viafix Quick.
This article was first published in the March 2026 issue of 萝莉原创 Magazine. Sign up online.
This product is designed for long-lasting repairs in high-stress locations. Tarmac even offers a product incorporating plant-based binders 鈥� Ultipatch Pothole Zero 鈥� for those virtuous LHAs that want to save the planet as well as their road surfaces.
鈥淓nvironmental considerations are increasingly important,鈥� says Brooks. 鈥淓very repair carries a carbon cost from material production, transport, plant and repeat visits. Roads that fail prematurely not only cost more financially, they also generate avoidable emissions. Choosing long-lasting, low-carbon repair materials helps minimise this impact while maintaining safety and road quality.鈥�
Naturally, Brooks is primarily interested in attracting red-faced, red-rated LHAs 鈥� or, let鈥檚 face it, any LHA 鈥� to buy his latest pothole products. But he is not wrong in saying that 鈥渁ddressing the problem effectively requires a combination of sustained investment, preventative maintenance, and durable, environmentally conscious repair solutions.鈥�
Tarmac and its competitors can reasonably argue that they can help LHAs meet the DfT鈥檚 third traffic-light metric: adoption of best practice in road maintenance.
鈥淚f the rating system encourages a shift toward preventative maintenance, whole-life thinking and greater consistency across the network, it can provide a constructive catalyst for long-term improvement,鈥� says Brooks.
鈥淓ngland鈥檚 pothole problem was decades in the making and will not be solved overnight, but these ratings create an opportunity, not just to measure performance, but to guide more strategic and sustainable approaches to maintaining the network.鈥�
Key findings from the 2025 ALARM survey
- Catch-up time 鈥� Even if funding were secured, local authorities estimate it would take 12 years to clear the current maintenance backlog.
- Annual shortfall 鈥� Local authorities reported needing an additional 拢7.4m each last year (2024) just to maintain roads to their own target conditions and prevent further decline.
- Structural health 鈥� More than half (52%) of the local road network鈥攁pproximately 106,000 miles鈥攈as less than 15 years of structural life remaining.
- Resurfacing rates 鈥� On average, local roads are only resurfaced once every 93 years.
- Reactive repairs 鈥� Nearly 1.9 million potholes were filled in 2024 at a total cost of 拢137.4m.
AIA鈥檚 cause for ALARM
Speaking on National Pothole Day 鈥� 15th January this year 鈥� Asphalt Industry Alliance chair David Giles called, probably not for the first time, for an end to the cyclce of pothole patch and repair鈥漛y giving local authority highway engineers the tools they need to do the job so [potholes] don鈥檛 form in the first place鈥�.
He said: 鈥淓arly in the new year, the prime minister promised to use 鈥渆very tool鈥� to make lives better for people living in Britain and investing in our local roads is one way to do just that, as improvements are immediately noticeable to taxpayers.
聽鈥淲e have long been calling for a different approach to government funding to enable this, advocating both a longer-term funding horizon and more transparency to give local authority highway engineers the certainty of funding needed to carry out the right maintenance intervention at the right time for the greatest long term benefit.
This article was first published in the March 2026 issue of 萝莉原创 Magazine. Sign up online.
聽鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we welcomed the transport secretary鈥檚 autumn budget announcement that 拢7.3 billion has been allocated over the next four years to local highway maintenance. While it鈥檚 not a silver bullet that will eradicate the backlog of repairs, it is a positive first step and will support local highway engineers in their efforts to stem the long-term decline of our local roads.
聽鈥淚n addition, the DfT鈥檚 latest announcement enabling the mapping of local authority performance, aligns with our calls for more transparency on delivery alongside additional investment.鈥�