Rural roads ‘getting worse’, say drivers
I’m not one to stir up rural/urban division but townies driving on some of the roads we have to use could literally fall into a well of controversy about funding fairness according to this article…
Half of drivers (49%) say the condition of local roads has deteriorated since last year, primarily as a result of potholes and other road-surface problems.
Only one in 10 (11%) believe the roads in their area have improved, with around four-in-10 (40%) saying there was no real change in the past 12 months, according to the 2019 RAC Report on Motoring.
There appears to be a clear town-versus-country divide in terms of road maintenance with drivers based in rural locations being almost 10% more likely to say their local road conditions have worsened in the past 12 months (rural 58% v UK average 49%).
Meanwhile, 25% of London-based motorists say conditions are in fact better this year, against the UK-wide average of 11%.
While potholes and related road-surface problems take most of the blame for worsening conditions, they are not drivers’ sole concerns.
There has been a sharp rise in dissatisfaction about grass and foliage maintenance on local roadsides, with 22% of drivers saying this is one reason conditions are worse.