Potholes are more than just a nuisance. As well as wrecking car suspensions and denting tyres, they can send cyclists flying. Just two months ago we reported on the sad case of 83-year-old Roger Hamer, who suffered brain injuries after hitting a pothole that had been reported many times to Bury council. He later died.
Today it emerges that funding for maintenance of local roads has declined in real terms over the past three years even when extra money earmarked specifically for potholes is included. That sum will fall by £46 million next year, which is not a saving that the Department for Transport can afford to make. Roads are the most basic of infrastructure. The rest of the economy depends on them and they are getting worse. Last year the RAC reported a 31 per cent increase in pothole-related faults attended by its patrols in the second quarter, compared with the same period in 2016.
Both Whitehall and local authorities are stretched. At the national level the immediate pressure is to funnel any available money into the health service; councils spend every spare penny on shoring up the social care system. Skimping on potholes is a false economy. Not only does it discourage people from getting on their bikes, obviating all the social and economic benefits that more cycling would bring. Leaving potholes alone also lets them grow. With every car that trundles over a broken road, the cracks deepen.
Harsh weather conditions over the past two months will not have helped. Potholes form when water seeps into gaps in the road, then freezes and expands. With every thaw and refreeze that a pothole endures, it gets harder to repair. It would be better to grip the issue now, and cancel the funding cut for a simple hole-in-one. Otherwise local authorities will need to find the money elsewhere.