In the run-up to the local government elections on 2 May 2024, one local issue concerning many voters across England is the poor state of their local roads, and in particular the proliferation of potholes that can make cycling, driving, and walking on pockmarked roads hazardous at times. This phenomenon has been labelled a “pothole pandemic” by the Liberal Democrats. Their label is backed up by estimates from the RAC, a leading British car insurer, according to whom there are currently at least a million potholes in the UK. More specifically, there are around six potholes per mile, on average, on council-controlled roads in England and Wales. As a natural consequence, there were 23, 042 pothole-related compensation claims in the UK in 2023, when the RAC attended nearly 30,000 pothole-related breakdowns.
A pothole can be defined as a depression or hollow in the surface of a road or walkway. The term has its origins as far back as the Roman Empire, or possibly later, when potters reportedly extracted clay from the roads for work purposes, leaving deep holes in the process. Potholes form in stages, over time, from a combination of factors, which may coexist at any given time. Wear and tear from large volumes of traffic and heavy vehicle loads on ageing and poorly maintained roads, often also poorly constructed, leads to cracks in the road surface. Standing water then seeps into these cracks and infiltrates the sub-base directly under the road surface. During cold weather, repeated freeze/thaw cycles are accompanied by expansion of the entrapped ice, which widens the cracks and gradually impairs the structural integrity of the road. Road surfaces can be further weakened by inadequate repair of the pavement after utility cuts-the digging of subterranean trenches to install or repair public utility conduits conveying electricity, gas, or water. Repetitive and uncoordinated utility excavations are partly the result of privatisation, which has reduced the lines of communication between utility providers.
Potholes are probably best prevented by a planned programme of proactive and preventative road management. Ideally, a scheme for regular inspection of roads and routine maintenance, supplemented by an efficient and effective system of public reporting of potholes, would be expected to enable councils to keep on top of the majority of more problematic long, wide, and deep potholes. It is also important to keep roads well drained, by clearing ditches, drains and sewers regularly, to prevent collections of standing water.
Potential potholes may be identified at an early stage using AI (artificial intelligence). Blackpool Council’s Project Amber, established in 2019, detects potholes by an AI system to take satellite images of roads and then prioritises repairs according to pothole size, targeting hazardous potholes. The Autonomous Road Repair System (ARRES), a robotics AI system developed by tech firm Robotiz3d (based at Daresbury Laboratory in Warrington, Cheshire) and the University of Liverpool, is being trialled by Hertfordshire County Council in Potters Bar. It uses a “semi-autonomous robot” for the automated detection of potholes. ARRES Eye detects potholes and reports back their location, ARRES Prevent uses a self-driving vehicle to seal small cracks, while the planned ARRES Ultra system can undertake bigger repairs.
Potholes are potentially dangerous and costly. Cars and other motor vehicles can sustain damage to their tyres (punctures, sidewall bulges, blowouts), wheel rims, suspension systems (axles), steering systems, and exhaust systems or other undercarriage components, leading to fluid leaks. Suitably documented and evidenced compensation claims may be met by either private car insurers or by public sector bodies responsible for road maintenance, including local councils, Highways England, and Transport for London, depending on the circumstances and nature of their injury.
Drivers can lose control of their vehicles while avoiding or actually hitting a pothole, causing breakdowns and accidents on the road. Car users have to stay extra vigilant to keep safe on potholed roads, by ensuring their vehicle’s tyres are in good condition and inflated to the correct air pressure, and by driving with due care, keeping a safe distance from the vehicle in front at all times. Driving techniques must be adapted to the growing numbers of potholes. As part of a list of pothole safety tips provided by car repair and servicing company Kwik Fit, if at all unavoidable drivers should contact a pothole head-on and not at an angle, as well as not braking directly over it.
More than 97 per cent of the road network in England and Wales is maintained by local councils and highway agencies. This highways asset is valued at over £400 billion, making it the largest physical asset in public ownership. Local authorities have a statutory duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain highways in a usable condition, “reasonably passable for the ordinary traffic of the neighbourhood”, but without an absolute guarantee of safety. But this particular duty costs money. Shrinking council budgets have led to cutbacks in road maintenance, creating backlogs in repairs to existing potholes.
Pothole repairs can be either temporary (fill-and-go) in emergency situations, semi-permanent, or permanent. Potholes can be filled using asphalt, concrete, loose gravel, or permeable pavers. For any given project, the choice of technique is at the contractor’s discretion and further details are unlikely to interest the general public.
England’s pockmarked roads are a visible manifestation of decades-long and widespread underinvestment in, and poor maintenance of, public infrastructure, which mirrors the situation in America. On our side of the Atlantic, this particular phenomenon transcends traditional political divides, being seen in councils of all political shades. Given the state of the economy and the somewhat inept juggling of the nation’s finances by political leaders, it seems unlikely that the forthcoming council elections will provide rapid resolution of the pothole pandemic. Only time can tell.
Ashis Banerjee