Plymouth council officers have been ordered to find a better way to manage road maintenance.
The council estimates that it will need to increase revenue spending by £1.5m a year and capital spending by £7m just to keep the roads network as it is over the next 20 years.
Cllr Mark Coker, the city's Cabinet member for transport, told the Plymouth Herald: "We need £3million to £4million just to stand still. This is a real issue throughout the country.
"We have sent officers away to look at a fundamental review of the way we repair roads and pavements," Cllr Coker told a scrutiny panel examining Plymouth City Council's budget.
The transport and highways department is looking to spend £3.053million in the next financial year on repairing roads.
