APPROXIMATELY a 25 mile main road in Windsor and Maidenhead needs to be fixed, according to the numbers.

The AA said England’s roads are stuck in a rut with motorists facing a “plethora of potholes” on their journeys.

The roads managed by the council were reviewed in the 12 months to March 2021 and classified as “red” if they were to be considered for maintenance.

Figures from the Department of Transport show that 4% of A roads in Windsor and Maidenhead were classified in this worst category – unchanged from 2019-2020.

And 4% of roads B and C also needed works.

The proportion of A-roads in need of repair is the average in England, where one in 25 kilometers is in poor condition.

Examinations are largely carried out using scanner machines, which identify sections of road worn by use or affected by ruts, bumps or potholes. However, the DfT said a different method had been used in Windsor and Maidenhead, meaning the region should not be directly compared to others.

The DfT said the proportion of roads in the red category is “stable” after a slight increase in 2019-2020, but there has been no change since 2015-2016.

A recent AA poll indicated that nine in ten drivers want the government to invest heavily in local road repairs.

The organization’s head of road policy, Jack Cousens, said: “While the government claims road conditions are ‘stable’, the harsh reality is that they are stuck in a rut.

“Road users don’t have to travel too far from home to see a plethora of potholes, fractured tarmac, worn surfaces and discolored road markings that make driving and cycling uncomfortable at best and dangerous at worst. ”

DfT figures suggest that the smaller roads in England are in even worse condition than the classified roads, with one in six miles in the “red” category.

The RAC said it was “extremely worrying” about the number of small roads set aside for maintenance, as unclassified roads in more rural areas tend to perform worse in terms of safety.

Nicholas Lyes, head of road policy at RAC, said: “We hoped that the fact that so few people used the roads last year due to the pandemic would have given councils a golden opportunity to catch up on essential road repairs.

“Unfortunately, these data seem to show that there is still a long way to go.

“Given the huge amounts that drivers pay in taxes each year, it is only reasonable for them to expect all roads to be in good condition. ”

A DfT spokesperson said: ‘The government is investing more than £ 5bn in road maintenance during this Parliament, enough to fill millions of potholes a year, repair dozens of bridges and help resurfacing roads across the country. ”