Going the distance - Achieving better value for money in road maintenance

The report highlights how councils can get more for their money, including cost-saving collaborations with neighbours, asset management to show when road maintenance will be most effective, new ways of keeping residents informed, and weighing short-term repairs against long-term resilience.

It includes a series of case studies which demonstrate how some councils have developed strategies that balance growing service demands with reducing resources.

Some of the relevant issues are that:

• The costs of maintaining roads are 50% higher than 10 years ago.
• Highway departments face cuts of 10% to 40%
• Public demand for high quality roads is growing
• Road repairs are the public’s No.2 priority for improved public services -  and No.1 for transport topics  (ahead of traffic congestion, public transport, pollution etc.)
• The move to longer-term contracts is encouraging investment in innovation

The report is available for free to download. Click here.