Which UK city has the most potholes? Repairs hit their highest level in eight years, the report said

Few things seem to unite the British in anger as much as potholes.

Pedestrians, drivers, bicyclists, and anyone who ever leaves their home will likely have complained at some point about a pothole or crack that needs fixing.

The subject evokes thoughts about disgruntled councilors pointing to the offending sites in local newspaper pictures—or a more recent trend for them to be filled with mosaics or gardening.

However, such anger is justified, given that dirt roads can destroy car suspensions and cause accidents and injuries.

A recent study claims potholes are to blame for the ‘breaking point’ on English and Welsh roads, where repairs are at an eight-year high. Annual Alarm Survey of the Alliance (AIA). This is the highest annual total since 2015-16 and a 43% increase on the previous year.

The study found that 47% of local road miles were rated in good condition, 36% in adequate condition and 17% in poor condition.

In October 2023, the government said it would allocate an extra £8.3 billion over 11 years to improve England’s roads. This was part of Network North’s strategy to use money saved by scrapping the proposed extension of HS2 north of Birmingham.

A separate study from which? using data from Admiral showed that applications for pits increased by 40% between 2022 and 2023. More than a third took place between January and March last year.

The study found that the average pothole claim increased by 29% from £2,378 in 2022 to £3,070 in 2023.

But now, help is at hand to avoid such costly expenses, as new research has discovered where you’re most likely to find a pothole.

What causes pits?

Potholes usually form due to a combination of factors, primarily road wear from weather, traffic and poor maintenance. Here are some key factors:

• Water infiltration: Water is one of the main culprits. When water seeps into cracks in the road surface, it weakens the underlying layers of soil and pavement. In cold weather, this water can freeze, expand, and cause the pavement to crack and spall.

• Freeze-thaw cycles: In regions with significant temperature fluctuations, such as areas where winters are cold, the repeated cycle of freezing and thawing can exacerbate cracks in the road surface. Water seeps into these cracks, freezes, expands, and thaws, creating larger voids and weakening the pavement.

• Traffic loads: Heavy traffic, especially from large trucks and buses, puts significant stress on the roads. Over time, this constant pressure can cause the road surface to loosen and crack, leading to potholes.

• Poor construction or maintenance: Poorly constructed or poorly maintained roads are more prone to potholes. Lack of proper drainage, inferior materials and inadequate repairs can lead to deterioration of road surfaces.

• Chemical reactions: Chemicals such as road salt, commonly used for deicing in cold climates, can accelerate the deterioration of roads. Salt can seep into pavement cracks, weaken the structure and contribute to potholes.

How potholes are reported

Publicly maintained roads and pavements are the responsibility of the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) Roads.

You can report potholes directly here or on the local council website.

If the pothole you want to report is on an English motorway or major A road, you can also report it by visiting this website or calling National Highways on 0300 123 5000.

Certain lanes and roads are probably owned by a developer or other private street owner and are not maintained by the Government.

To help assess the risk a defect poses to road or pavement users, please provide information about how serious it is when you report it. Describe the defect’s estimated size, depth, and location, and say whether it’s on a road, sidewalk, near an intersection, and in which lane.

Which areas of the UK have the most potholes?

Data published on February 5, 2024 by SmartSurvey appears to have found the UK’s pothole capital.

The service analyzed pothole reports recorded through FixMyStreet.com for 69 cities in England, Scotland and Wales.

And the winner, if we may use that word, was Glasgow. Scotland’s second city was found to have a reported landfill for every 86th person, putting it ahead of Scotland’s capital, Edinburgh.

Hereford was third, with one pothole reported for every 127th resident

The top 10 worst locations in the UK for potholes are as follows:

1. Glasgow,

2. Edinburgh,

3. hereford,

4. Southampton,

5. Wrexham,

6. Stoke-on-Trent,

7. Sheffield,

8. Manchester,

9. Birmingham,

10. Swansea.

Which areas of London have the most potholes?

London as a whole didn’t fare too badly in research. It missed the top 10 in the UK, with an average of 1.7 potholes per 1,000 inhabitants.

However, digging further into the pothole data (if you’ll excuse the pun) shows that London’s boroughs don’t add up.

Unfortunately, Barnet residents live in the worst borough of any advertising area, with 12 potholes per 1,000 residents. It’s then a long way back to second and third place, with Richmond and Kingston on 2.6.

The situation is much better if you live in Lewisham. Your board is easily the most responsive as it has fixed 98.45% of reported potholes.

It was followed by the City of London (94.34 per cent) and Bromley (91.21 per cent).

Cllr Alan Schneiderman, Barnet Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, told the Standard: “Tackling potholes is a key commitment for us as a new administration after the local elections in May 2022.

“We aim to invest more than £100 million over five years to repair roads and tackle potholes.

“The data cited is also a distortion of the facts. The most urgent potholes are repaired within 24 hours, and all others between seven and 28 days.

“Barnet is disproportionately affected by potholes with one of the largest road networks in London. Barnet also has the highest volume of vehicle movements per day in London, of which 1,000 are vehicles.”