Improvement needed in UK road maintenance
Date: 08 April 2008
Road maintenance in the UK should be co-ordinated better so that there is not so much disruption for couriers and other motorists.
That is the view of the Freight Transport Association (FTA), which has also argued that local authority funding for the improvement of roads should not be siphoned off and used for other purposes.
A new report by the Asphalt Industry Alliance showed that there are more than 3.5 million potholes in local roads in the UK, making life more difficult for delivery drivers including couriers.
There is also a large shortfall in highway maintenance budgets which could lead to roads getting worse.
Stephen Kelly, the FTA's head of urban access policy, said: "Whilst local authorities clearly face financial constraints on roads maintenance budgets, surely these resources should be positively protected and used only for the reasons they were originally agreed or granted.
"At the same time, the government must increase the funding provided to local authorities in order that they are able to maintain their roads in a fit and proper condition, commensurate with traffic efficiency and road safety, rather than on what seems to be the current 'patch and mend' basis."
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