Structural Maintenance of Roads

Mr John Dowdall, Comptroller and Auditor General and head of the Northern Ireland Audit Office, today reported the results of his examination into Roads Service's maintenance of Northern Ireland's road network.

The examination focused on the condition of the network, the adequacy of funding to maintain it, whether current maintenance practices provide value for money and Road Service's performance in meeting its key targets.

Funding for road maintenance has for many years been below the level required to maintain the network in a satisfactory condition. In 1998-99 Roads Service spent just under £43 million on structural maintenance which is the lowest since 1983-84. Expenditure has also been consistently lower than England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland. A structural maintenance funding plan developed by Roads Service indicates an annual requirement of some £80 million. This excludes funding to clear the maintenance backlog, which is estimated at £100 million at 31 March 1999 (paragraphs 3.2 to 3.14).

As a result of funding constraints Roads Service has focused resources on the motorways and those roads which make up the trunk road network. While this has resulted in relatively good standards of maintenance on these roads, the report records that there are indications of significant deterioration in the condition of the remaining parts of the network (paragraphs 2.8 to 2.10).

Surveys of the trunk road network indicate that some 17 per cent of it is below a pre-determined level of skidding resistance. Roads Service accepts the Audit Office recommendation that it should seek to reduce these levels and also extend the survey to other high volume traffic roads (paragraphs 4.7 and 4.8).

Roads Service accepts that, as a direct consequence of underfunding, its current maintenance practices do not always provide good value for money. Better economic solutions could be adopted if more funds were available. In one example the Audit Office found that continuing with responsive maintenance such as patching and surface dressing, which currently accounts for over 40 per cent of the total maintenance budget, will result in almost twice the total outlay over a 25 year period than if the road was strengthened and resurfaced (paragraphs 4.1 to 4.13).

The report also highlights other areas for improvement. Roads Service should:

• develop projected traffic growth rates specific to Northern Ireland to assist with long-term planning;
• review its road abandonment policy;
• examining how risk assessment techniques and technology could reduce the cost of road inspections and survey work and allow resources to be spent directly and more effectively on maintenance schemes;
• publish an annual road condition survey for Northern Ireland; and
• ensure that it has sufficiently detailed management information as it seeks to improve the delivery of local services and value for money.

The report also confirms that the Audit Office has been undertaking an investigation into the impact on the road network of openings by utility companies, including electricity, gas, telecommunications, cable and other companies. The results will be published in a separate report.