Roads: Water
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of ageing water infrastructure on road surfaces.
Answered by Simon Lightwood
Effective management of surface water is an important part of maintaining the road network. Poor drainage can accelerate the deterioration of road surfaces and structures, increase the need for reactive maintenance, and contribute to the undermining of earthworks and other highway assets. This is why drainage is treated as a core component of highway asset management, and why the Department supports a whole‑life, risk‑based approach to maintaining highway infrastructure.
The Government is providing record levels of funding for local roads maintenance. Between 2026‑27 and 2029‑30, the Government is investing £7.3 billion in local highways maintenance, giving local highway authorities the certainty and flexibility to plan preventative maintenance, including for drainage and other associated assets.
In addition, the Department recently launched the Structures Fund, which will support local highway authorities to repair or replace large transport structures such as bridges, tunnels, retaining walls and other critical assets. This will help protect the resilience of the local road network and reduce the longer‑term impacts of asset deterioration, including those linked to water and drainage.
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