2024 reported road conditions statistics - RAC comment

With the Department for Transport publishing its 2024 road conditions statistics, RAC head of policy Simon Williams said:

“While the percentage of A roads that are deemed to be in the worst ‘red’ condition doesn’t appear to have got any worse, it’s concerning to see that more roads that were in reasonable ‘green’ condition have now deteriorated to ‘amber’ status.

“Unfortunately, this is also the trend with B and C roads with 3% more of these now being categorised as ‘amber’ which means approximately 1,500 miles of road around the country are now significantly worse than they were.

“Drivers surveyed for this year’s RAC Report on Motoring listed the poor state of local roads as their number-one motoring issue of concern. We badly need to end the decline in the condition of our local roads, so we hope the Government’s new approach to highways funding will enable councils to plan longer-term maintenance that finally addresses this. We’re very encouraged to hear the Government talking about the need for preventative maintenance, such as surface dressing, as we know this is key to improving road surface conditions for the future. This way potholes will be prevented from appearing in the first place.”