ALARM survey

All Roads Lead ALARM 2025 special

27/03/2025

For this month’s special podcast, Dominic Browne and Chris Ames meet David Giles and Ian Lancaster of the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) to discuss the AIA’s 2025 Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey and find their way through the smoke and mirrors of highways maintenance funding.

Road condition statistics 'shocking' and 'damning'

21/03/2025

A key figure behind this week’s headline-grabbing survey of local roads has said it is ‘disgusting’ that the country has allowed the network to reach its current state.

ALARM 2025: Backlog at almost £17bn after 'decade of short-term fixes'

18/03/2025

The backlog of carriageway repairs in England and Wales has reached almost £17bn, with roads only being resurfaced every 93 years on average, according to the road industry's flagship survey.

New ALARM research reveals slow pace of decarbonisation

04/10/2024

Exclusive research by the Asphalt Industry Alliance and LCRIG in the annual ALARM survey has uncovered a wide gap between action and intention when it comes to decarbonising local road maintenance.

ALARM 2024: Record £16.3bn backlog reaching 'point of no return'

19/03/2024

The carriageway repair bill for local roads in England and Wales has reached a record high of £16.3bn – double the promised £8bn funding uplift from the Government.

Highways Presents Special: TotalEnergies on how we save our local roads

18/05/2023

Our local roads are in a state of emergency, with a record maintenance backlog of £14bn. Highways magazine talks to two of TotalEnergies' leading experts Richard Ashton and Gary Schofield about how we rescue this situation and pull ourselves back from the brink.

ALARM Survey reaction: 'An embarrassment that is costing lives'

21/03/2023

This year's annual ALARM survey delivered a bruising result: with a record maintenance backlog of £14bn, senior figures across the industry called for a change of strategy and long-term funding.

ALARM Survey 2023: The maintenance backlog hits record £14bn

21/03/2023

The local roads maintenance backlog in England and Wales has hit a record £14bn, an increase of 11%.

ALARM Survey: Road repair backlog soars by more than £2bn

21/03/2022

The cost of the 'pothole backlog’ across England and Wales has jumped by nearly 25% in the last 12 months from £10.24bn to £12.64bn, in a major warning sign of the devastating impact of inflation on the highways sector.

AIA: 'Get involved to sound the alarm'

21/01/2021

Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) chair Rick Green calls on councils to participate in the 2021 ALARM survey so highways maintenance gets the public and political attention it deserves.

ALARM magazine

30/03/2020

Rick Green

29/03/2020

ALARM 2019: Councils turn up the heat with Hammond’s cash

26/03/2019

The Department for Transport has given details of how councils are spending extra £420m the for local road maintenance announced in the Budget, including repairing a historic bridge.

Big Interview: Holding things in check with the AIA chairman

26/03/2019

Dominic Browne meets Rick Green, managing director of Hanson Contracting and chairman of the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), which has just published its annual ALARM survey.

ALARM 2019 finds 'haves and have nots'

26/03/2019

Recent increases in local authority highway maintenance budgets appear to be stemming the decline of local roads, according to the publishers of the 24th Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey.

Hammond's £420m for local roads 'should be a first step'

02/11/2018

Two key figures in the highway maintenance industry have said the Budget announcement of a £420m cash boost for councils should lead to a significant long-term increase in funding for local roads.

Cutting ribbons on old roads

23/03/2018

Steve Gooding, former director at the Department for Transport and current director of the RAC Foundation, argues that highway maintenance still does not get the support it deserves.

ALARM: Backlog falls as councils improve asset management - and spend

20/03/2018

This year’s ALARM survey has recorded a triumphant headline result for local authorities in England and Wales with the estimated highways maintenance backlog falling by almost 23% this year to £9.31bn from £12.06bn.

Local roads continue to suffer, ALARM survey finds

23/03/2016

Local roads are deteriorating at a faster rate than they can be repaired, according to Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) chairman Alan Mackenzie. The findings of the latest Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey reveal that the estimated cost to get the local road network in England and Wales back into reasonable condition is at almost £12 billion.

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