The government is even further behind in dealing with a backlog of roadworks, Infrastructure Minister Ray Harmer has admitted.

In the House of Keys, David Ashford (Douglas North) said that when David Cretney was infrastructure minister (2011-14), he estimated the backlog of roadworks required amounted to £120 million.

He wanted to know how the present day situation compared.

The minister replied: ’It is probably similar - probably worse, to be honest.

’It is difficult. I am very passionate about maintenance. I do not think we have had the resources to adequately move that forward. It is a continuing challenge and there are budgetary constraints, but it is one of my passions to actually move forward with more maintenance.’

Earlier, Mr Harmer had outlined in the Keys how the Department of Infrastructure monitored the condition of roads.

’The island’s major roads are surveyed approximately every five years to determine the residual life of their foundation, ride quality and skid resistance,’ he said.

’Additionally, safety inspections of all roads and footways are routinely carried out on a monthly, three-monthly, six-monthly or annual basis, depending on the type of road that it is and how busy it is.’

He added: ’For the first time, the department has recently undertaken a visual assessment of the island’s residential roads and footways, in which it has categorised these areas from a visual amenity perspective.’

That would help the DoI prioritise its efforts in line with the government objective to improve residential areas.

Other factors in prioritising include accident statistics, footfall, public and local authority feedback and budgetary constraints.

Roadworks are currently taking place in a number of locations including Cooil Road on one of the main routes out of Douglas, Buck’s Road in Douglas, Foxdale and Port Erin.