Whilst not necessarily one of the ‘big ticket’ items that councils are responsible for, the importance of highways cannot be understated. Providing a vital way of getting people to their jobs, their appointments, and their families, roads are integral to most aspects of everyday life in 2024.

Despite this, there continue to be issues with roads that should not be happening. When was the last time you saw a pothole? It was probably recently.

This is because many councils are without the adequate resources, expertise, or partner to ensure that they can make long-term improvements to their highways. On the latest episode of the Public Sector Executive Podcast, host Dan Benn was joined by Wrekin Product’s Dave Sanders and IKO Road’s Alistair Puddick, to discuss how local authorities can make sure that pesky pothole problems can be solved and highways improved in the long-term.

Talking about the challenges that councils face when they’re going about making road improvements and fixing potholes, Alistair said:

“We’ve seen that, from 2021, we were looking at £10 billion just to get the roads back up to a maintainable standard. That’s sitting in April 2024 at £16.3 billion. So the situation is only going one way and will probably, in the next couple of years, exceed the £20 billion mark if there isn’t a change in what authorities are doing.”

Dave also explained why it is important for authorities to change the way they think about highway and maintenance, saying:

“For us, certainly, our message to LCRIG members – and any local authority that’s willing to listen – is that it's changing that mindset from looking at the cost today, to looking at the cost over ten years…

… It’s about education for the guys in the local authorities to understand what products are good, what good looks like, and understand the dynamics to products when they get trafficked in the highway.”

To hear more from Dave and Alistair on how local authorities can make the right decisions when it comes to highways and maintenance, listen to the full episode now.

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