Drivers in England spend over a million hours a year on the road
English motorists drove the equivalent of almost 1,000 return trips to Mars in 2016 – figures that underline the demand for investment in road improvements.
The mid-boggling figures, which come from the Local Government Association (LGA), show that over one million years’ worth of time was collectively spent on the road by drivers in England – covering 277 billion miles.
With two-thirds of all mileage being driven on local roads, the LGA points out an “urgent need” for greater funding for repairs.
READ MORE: Huge pothole ‘takes out’ five cars in just one hour
English councils have estimated it would currently take over 14 years in order to work through the current repairs backlog and get the country’s roads up to scratch.
This, it says, would come at a cost of around £9.3 billion.
Earlier this week the RAC revealed that the proportion of call-outs caused by pothole-related damage almost doubled between January and March compared with the previous three months.
Furthermore the organisation warned that the freezing conditions brought by the Beast from the East earlier in the year could lead to the situation deteriorating in the coming weeks.
The RAC Pothole Index has now worsened for the fourth quarter in a row – having risen from 2.59 to 2.63 – but remains below the 3.5 peak recorded in the first three months of 2010.
IN OTHER NEWS: RAC urges Government to pump more into local road repairs
In order to help raise the required funding needed for the repairs backlog the LGA, which represents 370 local authorities in England and Wales, wants 2p per litre of existing fuel duty to be used to generate £1 billion a year for councils.
LGA transport spokesman, Martin Tett, said: “The amount of time drivers are spending on our roads continues to skyrocket.
"It is more important than ever for the Government to further invest in local roads.
"Only long-term and consistent investment in local road maintenance will allow councils to embark on the widespread improvement of our roads that is desperately needed, to the benefit of all road users up and down the country."
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