Published on
20 December 2023
Borough roads among best maintained
Roads across Wokingham Borough were among the best maintained in the country in the last year, according to new data published last month by the Department for Transport (DfT).
The annual road conditions statistics, published in November each year, provide a range of data such as how much of the road network has had maintenance work on it and how much of it should be considered for maintenance work.
The statistics show that Wokingham Borough Council carried out maintenance on around nine per cent of its A roads, compared to an average of around five per cent nationally – that's almost double the national average. For non-A roads, the council did maintenance work on 4.5 per cent of its roads, compared to an average of around 2.5 per cent nationally, which is again almost double the national average.
Data is available for 119 local authorities for A roads and 118 local authorities for non-A roads, putting the borough well into the top 20 for maintenance work carried out on the council’s road network.
The DfT statistics also show that roads in the borough are in better shape than the national average, with three per cent of its A roads and motorways length needing maintenance work compared with four per cent nationally, and four per cent of B and C class roads length compared with six per cent nationally.
Chronic underfunding for highway repairs
Cllr Paul Fishwick, executive member for active travel, transport and highways, said: “We know residents sometimes get frustrated with our roads and often hear they are the worst in the country, however the statistics show that this is far from true.
“We always seek to do more to improve areas around the borough, including our roads, however chronic underfunding to councils for highway repairs impacts this. It is estimated that there is a road repair backlog of around £14 billion nationally.
“Despite the lack of funding, as a borough we are still well above the national average in the maintenance work we’ve done over the last year, and that our network is in better shape than national average.
“The government has promised additional funding to local authorities, but this is only going to take us so far. We will continue to lobby government, and thank you to the around 1,200 people who have supported us in our Fairer Funding Deal campaign so far.”
