More misery on London roads as potholes toll hits 121,000

A huge rise in the number of potholes in London's roads was revealed today as councils struggle to keep up with road maintenance.

The number soared from 79,299 cracks and craters last year to 121,299 in 2009-10 — a 57 per cent increase. The cost of repairs also soared with the capital's 33 boroughs spending £8.3 million — or £68 a hole — this year, up from £5.6 million.

It comes after the Standard exposed a record 370,000 sets of roadworks over the past 12 months. Londoners now face months more misery as councils struggle to catch up.

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis today announced an extra £4 million for councils in the capital to help tackle the holes following yesterday's
£100 million emergency funding in the Chancellor's Budget.

Lord Adonis told the Standard: "It's vital that the roads are safer for pedestrians and cyclists and gaping holes in roads is a big safety issue which we've got to tackle urgently. That's why we're giving this extra money to councils."

But a shocking report published today by the Asphalt Industry Alliance calculated town halls would need £1.2 billion to clear the backlog.

Paul Watters,the AA's head of roads policy, said: "UK roads remain in such a poor state that the ravages of two severe winters in succession showed additional government funding has been too small to stop the rot and stave off the pothole plague this spring."

Councils say that gas, electricity and cable firms should be charged for works that typically reduce the life of road surfaces by a third, while the utility firms insist they are under pressure to complete the work efficiently.

Lord Adonis said he understood the anger of motorists whose journeys were delayed by roadworks — often with nobody working at them. "I completely share the frustration to motorists of roadworks, particularly where nothing seems to be happening," he said. "When I cycled into the office I counted 13 sets of roadworks between my house in Islington and Westminster."

He said it was clear councils could do more to finish their own roadworks on time and to put pressure on utilities to do the same. He has already agreed to Boris Johnson's permit scheme, set up in January, and to increase fines for over-runs to £25,000 a day.

There are plans to set up a lane rental scheme which would charge utility firms more to carry out roadworks on busy routes at peak hours.