Bob Hobden writes

That said, the whole country's roads are in such a bad state the Annual
Local Authority Road Maintenance Survey states....

"The 2009 ALARM Survey is the 14th to be published and reports that
£8.5 billion is now needed to bring the roads of England and Wales up
to scratch. Local authorities relate that they still only receive
around half of the road maintenance budgets they need, resulting in a
backlog of up to 13 years."

http://www.asphaltindustryalliance.com/alarm.asp


"Up to scratch" is a rather subjective term. I wonder whether the
Asphalt Industry Alliance definition of "up to scratch" matches, for
example, my definition?
--
Kay