Around half of people in Gloucestershire feel the road network is not up to scratch, according to the latest figures.
The county has around 3,300 miles of highways which are managed by Gloucestershire County Council.
But a report presented at today’s (July 14) environment scrutiny committee suggests the overall resident satisfaction with the road network is 52% as of December 2020.
Sedbury Councillor Chris McFarling told the committee he felt it was a pretty poor performance.
He asked officers what could be done to improve the situation.
“If as a scrutiny committee we are holding the cabinet to account, only 52% of people in the county are satisfied with the conditions of the road network.
“In my book, that’s pretty poor. What do we do about it?”
Economy, environment and infrastructure executive director Colin Chick said it was something the council is working towards but is a consequence of funding cuts.
He said the council has invested around £40m of its own funds to improve the quality of A and B roads across the county.
But there are also discussions about allocating more funding to improve the standard of unclassified roads.
“In austerity situations what happens is local authorities put their money into the immediate physical things that they have to like education and adult social care,” he said.
“The things that tend to get cut back heaviest and quickest are things like highways because you don’t have an immediate impact.
“But what happens over extended periods is the chicken comes home to roost. Because you can’t keep getting away with not putting any money in.
“The county has put additional money in, about £40m out of its own coffers over the last four years.
“Almost all of that money has gone into bringing the category A and B roads up to a very good standard.
“When you are in a recovery situation you do what is most important first for the economy and what gives you the biggest bang for your buck.
“We are conscious of the fact we need to put a conscious effort in bringing the unclassified road network up to a better standard.”
