On Air After Hours Dave Moore | 10:00pm - Midnight

Island's roads need £100 million of repairs

Infrastructure Minister David Cretney says a third of the Island’s roads need some sort of repair work.

In the House of Keys this week he faced a question for written answer from North Douglas MHK Bill Henderson about the state of the Island’s road network.

Mr Henderson wanted to know if the deterioration of highways had accelerated, and what the minister blamed this on.

Mr Cretney said there was normal wear and tear on our roads, however many hadn’t been given proper foundations when they were first built.

In his answer he went on to say that the Island's 725 miles of roads would cost a billion and a half pounds to build at current prices.

He pointed out the roads need around £21 million a year spent on repairs – but his department can only afford to spend £6.5 million.

Mr Cretney says thirty per cent of the network needs reconstruction, resurfacing or overlay, and he revealed the current backlog of repair work is estimated to be £100 million.

More from Isle of Man News