How to solve the UK’s massive pothole problem

A damning report has branded England’s local roads as ‘a national embarrassment’ due to the number of potholes

File photo dated 04/04/18 of a car passing potholes in a road near Peterborough in Cambridgeshire. The total cost of repairing vehicles damaged by potholes hit a record high last year, new figures show. Common problems caused by potholes include damaged shock absorbers, broken suspension springs and distorted wheels. Issue date: Wednesday January 15, 2025.
Local roads in England are ‘riddled with potholes’, a damning report has found. (PA)

Whether you’re a motorist, a cyclist or simply out for a walk, it’s virtually impossible not to notice the state of Britain’s roads.

And one word will probably spring to mind straight away – potholes. This week it emerged that the total cost of repairing vehicles damaged by potholes hit a record high last year.

Britain’s pothole crisis is now deepening as quickly as the holes themselves and, according to a damning report by the Commons public accounts committee (PAC), local roads are “a national embarrassment”.

The report found that the Department for Transport (DfT) “has not taken responsibility” for its role in how roads have deteriorated.

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Echoing the thoughts of countless drivers, Conservative MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, who chairs the PAC, warned that road users are being put at risk from “highways riddled with potholes”.

The PAC’s report stated that the DfT “has not set out what outcomes it expects” from its funding for local roads maintenance, nor “sought to evaluate its impact”.

It added: “The department has overall policy responsibility for local roads but has shown too little interest in what difference its funding of local roads maintenance has made.”

MPs also found that the DfT “does not have a good grasp of the condition that local roads in England are really in”. It stated there are “too many gaps in the data it collects”.

A pothole at JCB Power Systems in Derby on National Potholes Day, to test the 'Pothole Pro' machine and reaffirm the Government's £1.6bn commitment to fix potholes in England. Picture date: Wednesday January 15, 2025.
A pothole at JCB Power Systems in Derby on National Potholes Day, to test the 'Pothole Pro' machine. (PA)

The DfT’s data suggests local road conditions have been “broadly stable” but this “does not reflect what people, businesses and local authorities are experiencing,” the PAC added.

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The PAC recommended that the DfT clearly set out “roles and responsibilities” for itself and local authorities in ensuring local roads are “maintained to a good standard throughout England”.

It also called on the department to “simplify” its funding for local roads and “provide more long-term certainty”.

In the next phase of the spending review, the DfT should make sure funding to local authorities “reflects the expected wear and tear of local roads due to the level of usage and local environmental conditions”, the report recommends.

PAC also suggests that, with heavier electric lorries on the roads, more consideration should be made to the effectiveness of maintenance on roads and bridges in an effort to prevent larger and more frequent potholes.

The report states that potholes “are just a symptom of poor road conditions” and “are not necessarily being fixed properly or efficiently so money is just being wasted”.

Artificial intelligence (AI) could be a key factor in tackling the problem of potholes – at least, that’s what prime minister Sir Keir Starmer is hoping.

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During a speech this week, Starmer said the technology will be able to spot potholes more quickly than the human eye.

Essentially, AI would be fed into cameras to help identify potholes as they emerge and to prioritise road repairs. But the plan received some criticism by road users who say they spot and report potholes regularly – but councils either take a long time to fix them or the potholes don’t get fixed at all.

Damaged road surface with deep pothole.
AI may be able to help with spotting and repairing potholes quickly. (PA)

Last year, an AI-powered autonomous vehicle known as the autonomous road repair system (ARRES) was developed and used by Hertfordshire County Council. It is able to detect and seal cracks on the roads surface to prevent potholes from forming.

PAC said the DfT should update its guidance to local authorities who may seek to use similar vehicles in their area.

Local roads maintenance funding for England provided by the government in the 2025/26 financial year will be nearly £1.6bn, representing a £500m uplift compared with the previous 12 months.

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However, the cost of bringing pothole-plagued local roads in England and Wales up to scratch has been estimated at £16.3bn, according to The Asphalt Industry Alliance.

How a pothole forms. (PA)
How a pothole forms. (PA)

The AA said this week that the total cost of fixing vehicles it attended in the UK that had broken down because of poor road surfaces in 2024 was £579m. That is compared with £474m during the previous 12 months and is the highest total on record.

The increase happened because a slight fall in the number of incidents, from 647,690 to 643,318, was more than offset by a leap in average repair bills, from £250 to £300.

Potholes can be huge in size but they start odd as tiny cracks in the surface of the road.

Water seeps into the cracks and when temperatures drop to below freezing, this water will also freeze and turn into ice.

This ice then expands and exerts pressure on the road, creating or enlarging existing holes. As the weather warms up and the ice melts, these cracks remain, but now filled with water.

When vehicles, particularly heavy ones like trucks or buses, drive over these weakened areas, the pressure can cause the road surface to crumble. The asphalt or concrete then breaks apart under the strain, forming a cavity that we recognise as a pothole.

Over time, the constant wear of the road materials combined with the ongoing freeze and thaw cycle leads to numerous potholes.

Watch: Pothole campaigner unimpressed with new funding