Knowsley deteriorating roads: £115m backlog revealed 2026

Key Points

• Three in every five A roads in Knowsley are in a mid-life, deteriorating condition – 60%, the highest proportion of any borough in the Liverpool City Region.
• Knowsley has the lowest share of A roads in good condition at 37%, compared with 85% in Halton and 44% in Liverpool.
• Only 4% of Knowsley’s A roads are classed as “poor” and in need of urgent attention, better than Liverpool (10%), St Helens (6%) and Wirral (5%).
• Council officers estimate it would cost £115m to bring all Knowsley roads up to good condition, with £6m a year needed just to maintain current conditions.
• The council’s revenue budget for day-to-day highway maintenance in 2026/27 is £3.1m, supplemented by £2.3m in capital funding from the Department for Transport and developer contributions.
• Highways officers say prioritisation is essential, with A roads and routes serving shops, schools, hospitals and town centres treated as top priority.
• Independent councillor David Hitchmough and Lib Dem councillor Mark Burke have described the situation as “really concerning” and called for stronger advocacy for increased funding.
• B roads in Knowsley are also under pressure, with 56% in the amber (deteriorating) category, 6% in red (poor) and 38% in good condition.
• The proportion of “perfect” roads in Knowsley fell from 43% in 2017/18 to 23% in 2024/25, while “serviceable” roads with some defects rose from 35% to 51%.
• Knowsley Council maintains around 600km of highway and nearly 1,000km of footways, with motorways inspected weekly and smaller local roads annually.
• The number of potholes repaired has approximately doubled over the past decade, and the council resurfaced 4,582m of road in 2025/26.

St Helens (Liverpool standard) July 29, 2026 – New figures have confirmed that Knowsley has the highest proportion of deteriorating A roads of any borough in the city region, with three in every five classified as being in a mid-life, declining state.

What do the latest road condition figures show for Knowsley and St Helens?

The data, presented to uk/local/liverpool-council/knowsley-council/">Knowsley Council’s Place, Environment and Climate Scrutiny Committee, shows that 60% of A roads in Knowsley are in an amber, deteriorating condition. This is the highest share in the Liverpool City Region, ahead of St Helens and Wirral (both 53%), Liverpool (46%), Sefton (20%) and Halton (14%).

At the same time, Knowsley has the lowest proportion of A roads in good condition at 37%, compared with 85% in Halton, 44% in Liverpool, 77% in Sefton, 41% in St Helens and 42% in Wirral. However, only 4% of the borough’s A roads are in the red “poor” category requiring urgent intervention, which is lower than Liverpool (10%), St Helens (6%) and Wirral (5%).

How bad is the road deterioration problem in Knowsley compared with neighbours?

As reported by journalists covering the scrutiny committee for the Liverpool Echo, councillors and officers highlighted the scale of the challenge. Independent councillor for Cherryfield ward, David Hitchmough, questioned why Knowsley was the worst-performing borough in the city region for declining A roads.

Director of development and infrastructure Tony Clark responded that, on a national comparison, Knowsley has fewer roads in poor condition and is “actually better placed nationally on all counts”. He added that the council’s target is to keep roads in good condition because once they move into very poor condition they become very expensive to fix.

Highways officer Richard Thorpe told the committee there is a “high number” of roads in a deteriorating condition, and that the key is to keep them in that mid-life stage because once they flip into the red category they become “really expensive really quickly”.

How much will it cost to fix Knowsley’s roads and what is the current budget?

Council officers estimate that bringing all roads in Knowsley up to a good condition would cost £115m, part of a national backlog estimated at £19bn. An annual budget of around £6m would be needed simply to maintain the current condition of the network, almost double what is currently available.

Mr Thorpe said the council’s revenue budget for day-to-day road maintenance, including pothole repairs, is £3.1m in 2026/27. Capital funding of £2.3m comes from the Department for Transport for major works, with additional contributions from developers linked to new housing estates.

Because of the funding gap, prioritisation is required. Mr Thorpe said A roads and those serving shops, schools, hospitals and town centres are put to the top of the list, especially if there have been higher numbers of enquiries to the council about them.

What are councillors and officers saying about the state of highways?

Prescot North Lib Dem councillor Mark Burke described some of the findings in the officers’ report as “really concerning”. He said: “We’re managing the decline of our network now. How has it come to this? We’re looking for £100m just to get us on the straight and narrow.”

Cllr Burke called on officers to “fight tooth and nail” for a bigger budget for highway repairs and maintenance, calling the situation an “eye-opener” and urging councillors to highlight the problem.

Mr Clark reiterated that the council aims to prevent roads from slipping into very poor condition because of the steep rise in costs once they reach that stage. Mr Thorpe added that the council carries out preventative maintenance on roads in good condition to avoid more significant repairs later.

What do the figures show for B roads and long-term trends?

Beyond A roads, the data shows that 56% of Knowsley’s B roads are in the amber category, with 6% in red (poor) condition and 38% in good condition. This puts the borough in a similar position to Liverpool and slightly better than St Helens, where 11% of B roads are in poor condition, and Wirral.

In Sefton, 76% of B roads are in good condition with only 3% in poor condition, while in Halton the proportions are 81% and 2% respectively.

Over time, the proportion of “perfect” roads in Knowsley free from defects declined from 43% in 2017/18 to 23% in 2024/25, while the percentage of “serviceable” roads with some defects increased from 35% to 51%. The share of “functionally impaired” and “structurally impaired” roads remained around 11–13% and 6–7% respectively.

How does Knowsley Council manage highway maintenance and potholes?

Knowsley Council is responsible for around 600km of highway, including sections of major routes such as the M62, and nearly 1,000km of footways. Mr Thorpe said motorways are inspected for potholes and other problems once a week, other strategic and distributor routes are reviewed monthly, and smaller local roads are visited annually.

He said extremely hazardous defects on major roads that pose an emergency risk should have highways teams sent out within two hours, while less significant issues are given longer timeframes. Around 90% of potholes and other repairs are classed as low-risk and are given a 28-day window to be fixed.

Mr Thorpe said the number of potholes being repaired by the council has approximately doubled over the past decade. In 2025/26, the council resurfaced 4,582m of road and carried out surface treatment to stop water getting into the tarmac on 17,653m.

Background to the development of Knowsley’s road condition crisis

The latest figures emerge against a backdrop of long-term underinvestment in local highway maintenance across England, with many councils reporting rising backlogs and constrained budgets. In Knowsley, the shift from “perfect” to “serviceable” roads over the past decade points to gradual deterioration rather than sudden collapse, with a growing share of the network entering the mid-life, amber category.

Recent cabinet decisions show some targeted investment. Knowsley’s Cabinet has approved a £5m investment in the Highways Capital Delivery Programme for 2026/27 and more than £3m for Highway Asset Management Programme Resources for 2025/26, drawn from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS). A £32.8m Grant Funding Agreement with the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority was also approved to invest in highways infrastructure between 2027 and 2032, covering maintenance, road safety and sustainable travel schemes.

Separately, more than £1.011m of Department for Transport funding was allocated in 2025 to resurface prioritised roads including Higher Road and Lower Road in Halewood, Milton Avenue in Huyton, Kirkby Row in Kirkby, Helens Road in Prescot and Eaton Street Estate in Prescot, with work due for completion by March 2026. Capital plans for 2025/26 and 2026/27 show highway infrastructure maintenance and enhancement budgets of £20.8m and £16.45m respectively, made up of grants, council borrowing and other contributions.

Despite these interventions, officers’ evidence to the scrutiny committee indicates that the scale of the backlog and the rate of deterioration are outpacing available revenue funding, leading to a strategy focused on triage and prevention rather than comprehensive renewal.

Prediction: how this development could affect residents, businesses and commuters

If the current trajectory continues, residents in Knowsley are likely to face more frequent potholes, longer repair times for minor defects and increased vehicle wear and tear, particularly on B and local roads that sit lower in the priority list. Motorists may experience higher maintenance costs and more journey disruptions as councils balance limited budgets against a growing amber-category network.

Local businesses relying on road freight and customer access could see less predictable travel times and higher logistics costs if key distributor routes slip further into the red category. Schools, hospitals and town centres, which are currently prioritised, may be protected in the short term, but pressure on the wider network could indirectly affect access and service reliability.

For commuters and public transport users, a higher proportion of deteriorating roads increases the risk of congestion from unplanned repairs and emergency closures, potentially lengthening journey times across the borough and into neighbouring areas such as St Helens and Liverpool. Without additional sustained funding beyond current capital programmes, the gap between the £6m annual maintenance need and the £3.1m revenue budget is likely to widen the backlog, making future catch-up more expensive and disruptive for all road users.