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27/06/2022 News

Preventing Potholes and Upgrading Road Infrastructure

On 30 June 2022, Rick Ashton, Bitumen Division Market Development Manager at TotalEnergies Marketing UK will join a panel of experts, convened by Public Policy Exchange, to discuss how the UK can begin to tackle the serious and growing issue of potholes and broader roads maintenance and safety.

Preventing Potholes and Upgrading Road Infrastucture

 

On 30 June 2022, Rick Ashton, Bitumen Division Market Development Manager at TotalEnergies Marketing UK will join a panel of experts, convened by Public Policy Exchange, to discuss how the UK can begin to tackle the serious and growing issue of potholes and broader roads maintenance and safety.

The event will be chaired by Gary Schofield, Technical Manager at TotalEnergies Marketing UK & Member of Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA).

According to the AIA’s most recent ALARM survey findings, the total backlog of funding required to bring local roads in England and Wales up to an appropriate standard has hit £12.64bn, while local authorities require an additional £1bn of funding to meet their repairs targets let alone begin addressing the backlog.

At the same time, RAC research found that, in the first three months of 2021 alone, the equivalent of 52 drivers every single day required breakdown response purely and simply because of damage caused by hitting potholes.

The symposium organised by Public Policy Exchange will bring together industry leaders, local authorities, campaigners and maintenance groups to discuss these critical infrastructure issues which affect all road users – and how new road maintenance solutions can help embed resilience in the roads network.

Commenting on the publication of the survey, Rick Ashton, Market Development Manager, Bitumen, TotalEnergies UK, said:

“A significant issue which our ailing road network faces is the short-term approach to funding which has been par for the course for too long. Local Authorities have become trapped in a groundhog-day of almost endless small-scale patch repairs. We need a longer horizon for funding so that long-term, large-scale, repair and upgrade decisions can be made which, overall, will deliver a more reliable and sustainable road network for users with less disruption and delay caused by, comparatively, minor yet very frustrating repair interventions. I very much look forward to hearing from colleagues across the industry as we come together to try and find solutions to these issues, not least including the role that modern bitumen products can play in delivering long-term value, resilience and environmental and safety benefits for our roads.”

Speakers at the event include:

  • Neil Greig, Policy and Research Director at IAM RoadSmart
  • Harry Pearl, CEO of Roadmender Asphalt
  • Dr Phillip Wheat, Applied Economist at the Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds
  • Matthew Lugg OBE, Head of Profession, Local Government at WSP
  • Professor Nick Thom, Researcher at Nottingham Transportation Engineering Centre Research Group
  • Nicholas Lyes, Head of Roads Policy at RAC

More information can be found here