Economic, Environmental and Social Impact of Changes in Maintenance Spend on Roads in Scotland Summary Report

This report summarises the results of a study to assess the environmental, social and
economic impacts of cuts to the roads maintenance budgets for trunk roads and local
roads in Scotland. It highlights key aspects of the methodologies adopted before
presenting the results and discussing the most significant conclusions.

The study approach was to assess and categorise the impacts in accordance with criteria adopted in the Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG) (Transport Scotland,
2011):
• Environmental impacts
• Safety impacts
• Economic impacts
• Integration impacts
• Accessibility and social inclusion impacts

The impacts were considered for three Scenarios over a 20 year analysis period.

Key conclusion

There is an overall disbenefit to society of reducing road maintenance expenditure on the Scottish road network. The qualitative review of each criterion highlights the various impacts, almost all of which are negative. This supports the traditional view held by highway engineers that reductions in road maintenance lead to long term disbenefits for developed road networks such as those in Scotland. The quantitative analyses, which have only addressed certain aspects of the qualitative analysis, further support the qualitative conclusions and show that for every £1 reduction in road maintenance, there is a cost of £1.50 to the wider economy

If figures were available to quantify aspects not currently included in the quantitative analyses, it is expected that these would only enhance the conclusion. For example:
• Impacts of any increase in road closures due to unforeseen events.
• Costs of delaying major repair work on significant structures leading to possible
closures, weight restrictions or more extensive maintenance work.
• Wider economic disbenefits such as reduced tourism or local economic activity.