The 2022 survey, polling 3,102 drivers, revealed that 58% of drivers believe local roads have become worse in the past year, an increase of 2% from last year’s statistics and up from 52% in 2020.

In contrast, a mere 4% think local roads have improved in the past 12 months, down from 6% over the previous two years.

The most common complaint, raised by 98% of respondents, was related to road surface quality and potholes. More than half (55%) of respondents rated the standard of pothole repairs in their area as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’.

An additional 63% said they’d noticed fading road markings, up from 56% in 2021’s survey. Another 42% of drivers reported poor signage visibility while a further 35% grumbled about roadside litter. 

Nearly half of UK drivers (45%) ranked local road conditions as their top motoring concern, although more people (55%) were worried about rising fuel costs.

Commenting on the survey, Nicholas Lyes, RAC’s head of roads policy said: ‘“Many [drivers] describe the repair work – when it’s carried out – as being substandard, which more than likely means potholes and surface defects will quickly reappear, costing yet more money to fix.

“This seems to be utter madness and an issue that badly needs addressing if drivers’ views are indeed accurate. Unfortunately, we do still have a widespread funding shortfall meaning that many councils can’t afford to maintain and improve roads as they would like to.”

Cllr David Renard, the transport spokesperson for the Local Government Association, attributed the cost of living crisis to the poor condition of UK roads. He made the case that the organisation’s latest estimates show that the average cost of a pothole repair has increased by 25%, with the cost of running street lights nearly doubling.

He said: “Research shows that, even before current levels of inflation, existing levels of funding will lead to a gradual decline in road conditions.

“The Government should meet these increased costs in the upcoming Autumn Statement; otherwise they risk the current pothole repair backlog growing even longer and councils being forced to cut back on essential road repairs.”

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Start-up energy company, Cheesecake Energy Ltd (CEL), says its ‘eTanker’ battery could speed up electric car charging while also protecting the grid from a potential overload.

The battery is both a green and a low-cost solution as its materials are repurposed from ex-service Volvo truck engines. 

The technology works by heating and compressing air before storing it in a tank containing 20 tonnes of gravel. When electricity is required, the compressed air and heat are used to turn the Volvo truck engines which drive the electric motors in reverse to generate electricity.

This means there is no need for expensive and rare metals, such as cobalt, that are used in traditional lithium-ion batteries. Not only are these hard to resource, but the process of extraction is detrimental to the environment. 

CEL has announced that their new technology could save drivers up to 40% compared to the current cheapest batteries available on the market. 

Annette Pass, head of innovation at National Highways, commented: “Cheesecake’s project is an excellent example of the changes that are being made to reduce carbon in the transport industry. It also plays a part in National Highway’s net zero carbon plan, which will see a rapid cut in carbon from road construction, maintenance and operations, and supports the transition to zero-emission vehicles.”

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Located under the M5 at Oldbury, it is considered the UK’s largest roadside water runoff filtration system. The set-up will capture debris and pollutants that exist in the runoff water from the M5 carriageway, meaning that water fed back into the watercourse will be cleaner.

Using 10 filters to cleanse collected rainfall, the water from the M5 will be discharged into the canal. This should help to keep the waterways cleaner and promote better water quality, with the hope of aiding wildlife in the area.

Colin Jackson, project manager at National Highways, said: “This new drainage system is a real boost to the local canal network that runs underneath the M5 Oldbury viaduct. We know that the local habitat is a crucial part of the landscape at Oldbury and we’re confident this new system will play a significant role in helping biodiversity.

“The drainage has a special filter installed inside the pipework which is designed to capture debris and pollutants before entering the water network which can then simply be removed by specialists at regular intervals.”

Though the system took many months to complete, it didn’t impact road users on the motorway or nearby local roads during its development. Specialist equipment was used to dig under the M5 to install the pipework.

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The RSIB will be comprised of a specialist team of investigators, recruited by The Department for Transport (DfT), who seek to understand why crashes happen and shine a light on how new technology can prevent casualties. 

They will use data from insurance companies, vehicle manufacturers, the emergency services and the NHS to understand why collisions happen and learn valuable road safety lessons. Once trends in the data are identified, they will develop and roll out new road safety interventions across the country. 

The team will also provide valuable insights into how new and evolving technology can improve our roads. They are likely to explore innovations like e-scooters, electric vehicles and driverless cars to ensure any new advancements are deployed safely. 

Similar independent bodies investigating other types of infrastructure including air, maritime and rail accidents already exist. 

The Minister for Roads, Baroness Vere, commented: “We’re establishing the Road Safety Investigation Branch, so we can boost safety for road users even further and also bring safety measures in line with other modes of transport and the future of travel.” 

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “After a steady decline in road deaths up to 2012, for the past decade the number of annual fatalities has sat stubbornly around the 1,750 mark. Whilst the Covid-related cut in traffic meant fewer people killed, post-pandemic we are likely to see the death toll rise again. To get back on a downward course we need to do something radically different which is exactly what this new approach is about.” 

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The proposed project will give a new lease of life to some of the 3,250 abandoned structures, which include disused rail bridges, embankments, and tunnels. 

National Highways, which is managing the Historical Railways Estate, was planning to demolish or infill many of these historic sites until this latest assessment identified a more sustainable approach. The report of 75 structures, which was produced by active travel charity Sustrans, concluded that:

• 26 structures are potentially suitable for the National Cycle Network (NCN) 
• 24 structures might be useful for local cycling and walking routes 
• 25 further structures are not likely to be reused

Huw Merriman MP, chair of the Transport Select Committee, embraces the DfT’s plan to convert disused sites. He said: “This is a welcome reprieve for more than 50 of our historic railway structures. These structures work well with local cycling and walking plans – a valuable contribution to active travel.”

“The mystery is why these historical structures were sentenced to infilling or demolition in the first place – we should think about preservation before destruction.”

However, there’s still a long way to go as the historic sites will need to be structurally surveyed to ensure they are suitable and safe for their new use. Detailed assessments will be carried out in the coming months to see if this pipeline project can be rolled into action.

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Most concrete roads are found in the North East, Yorkshire, East Anglia and the South East; the project will focus on resurfacing stretches of the A11, A14, A12, A120 and M11, upgrading approximately 200 miles (2%) of the National Road Network. 

Concrete, despite being the second most-used substance in the world, runs into problems on the roads. Made by mixing aggregate (crushed rock and sand), along with cement and water, concrete forms a stiff but strong solid.

This rigidity, however, means road surfaces are prone to cracks, especially if the underlying foundations are not perfectly smooth.

Asphalt is also aggregate-based but uses bitumen, a sticky material derived from crude oil, as a binder. The mixture is heated and pressed into the road’s surface with a steamroller. 

Once cooled, asphalt surfaces are highly durable, providing also good flexibility to accommodate imperfections in the surface beneath – a feature that gives it the edge over concrete. 

National Highways Martin Fellows welcomes a refresh: “‘The A11 is a vital route used by 45,000 drivers every day for work journeys and home deliveries, visits to friends and family, and the movement of goods and services. However, the road surface of this stretch is more than 25 years old and despite serving us well, is coming to the end of its life and needs reconstruction.”

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National Highways (previously Highways England) collaborated with Roadcare and Kier on a two-year, £685,000, international competition with the purpose of investigating new road marking products. 

The competition aimed to identify the most successful marking and removal technologies using three key stages: high-speed turntable testing, on-road testing, and removal trials. 

For removals, limited innovation was identified in testing. The current prevailing method, water-pressure blasting, was still found to be the most effective technique. 

Good-removal results, however, are limited to unpredictable variables – underlying surface quality, time, and individual operative skill. Improper removals can raise serious safety issues – leaving behind ghost markings and causing surface damage to roads. 

Test results for road marking technology identified significant developments to wet surface retroreflectivity. It was revealed wet night-time retroreflectivity could be increased to 50 millicandelas (mcd) from the current minimum standard of 35mcd.  

National Highways is likely to make some changes as the competition showed that despite the wide variety of marking technology, the same materials are often used. This universal approach ignores better value solutions, wet/dry weather variables and doesn’t take into account whether the markings are permanent, temporary, heavy or lightly trafficked. 

Stu McInroy, CEO of the Road Safety Markings Association (RSMA), is concerned with the methodology employed by the study. McInroy disputes the on-road positioning of the products during testing and implores that the report fails to reflect correct surface textures and vehicle speeds. He concludes that to make policy changes based on this study would be “irrational”. 

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Future developments could involve adding CCTV and wireless technology to the UK’s street lights. This would provide information on speed limits, diversions and traffic alerts, enabling more efficient journey planning.

The trial was part of National Highways’ aim to incorporate technology that can communicate messages more effectively across the network, supporting a wider autonomous vehicle infrastructure. 

In addition to these benefits, the project saw more environmentally-friendly LEDs replace the previous lighting. As well as being greener for the planet, the new bulbs are designed to disperse clearer light.

Lisa Maric, innovations lead for the Midlands at National Highways, said: “These are exciting times as we progress on our ‘digital roads’ journey with the growth of digital technology and the move to electric, connected and autonomous vehicles that will fundamentally change how we use roads in the future.

“National Highways is committed to ensuring we are at the forefront of this digital revolution and are preparing the way for the greener and safer roads of tomorrow.

“Initial trials such as Illuminate will help us identify new innovations, technology and methods to meet our digital goals. We were pleased with how Illuminate performed as a proof of concept and the useful knowledge gained as we continue to plan for the roads of the future.”

Recent technological advancements have allowed this progression in street lighting. The increased bandwidth of 5G internet supports the transfer of more information, while the internet of things (IoT) is set to play an important role in the future of autonomous vehicles.

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An eight-year contract has been laid out, which will begin in July 2022. Colas will take the reins on the important tasks of routine maintenance, repairing defects and responding to emergency incidents. Navigating severe weather services will also fall under their remit.

Andrew Jinks, regional operations director for the Midlands at National Highways, said “By working more closely with our supply chain partners on routine maintenance, repairs and incident response, we’re able to work more effectively, identifying innovative ways of working and provide the best possible quality of service to road users.

“We’re delighted that Colas has been awarded this contract and look forward to working with them, driving improvement and strengthening our regional expertise.” 

Colas Ltd is a UK-based company that provides civil engineering solutions. It is taking over at the end of the three-year contract currently with Kier. Area 9 contains over 2000 miles of motorway and trunk roads, making this a huge opportunity for the business. 

CEO of Colas Ltd, Carl Fergusson, said: “Everyone at Colas is delighted that we are continuing to build on our successful relationship with National Highways with this new, significant, contract award.

“We are looking forward to establishing a highly effective collaborative working relationship in Area 9 with National Highways and our supply chain partners as part of the contract, and in working towards the common goal of reducing carbon emissions to achieve net-zero.”

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Prof. Reed will work with National Highways’ board of directors to provide advice on reaching this goal, as well as liaise with stakeholders and partners in order to further build relationships.

National Highways has come under some criticism regarding its responsibility to road users and their safety. Earlier this year, the company’s own barrister stated that National Highways has “no duty of care to motorists”, after a fatality on a smart motorway. 

Safety is at the heart of Prof. Reed’s experience, which includes previous leadership roles in driver behaviour at Transport Research Laboratories and head of mobility R&D at Bosch. He is also part of the University of Surrey’s faculty of visiting staff.

Commenting on his new role, Professor Reed said: “I am delighted and honoured to have been appointed to this new role. Throughout my career, my prime motivation has been to reduce the harm associated with road transport.

“This is an exciting opportunity to work with industry, academia and innovators to support and challenge National Highways in delivering on its ambitious zero harm agenda.”

National Highways chief executive Nick Harris added: “We’re committed to our vision of no one being harmed either travelling along or working on our roads. Being able to call on someone with Nick Reed’s experience will make a real difference in our capability to deliver that promise.”

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