Road infrastructure provides a fundamental foundation to the performance of all national economies, delivering a wide range of economic and social benefits. Adequately maintaining road infrastructure is essential to preserve and enhance those benefits. The importance of maintenance needs to be recognised by decision makers, funded appropriately and well managed to ensure maximum value is achieved. Inadequate levels of investment or poor management of the road network will have serious consequences for economies and social well-being. This paper makes the case for the importance of road maintenance by drawing on robust evidence from around the world.