Highways | LocalGov


Pothole breakdowns jump 20% 23/04/2025 Pothole-related breakdowns have increased by nearly 20% compared to the same period last year, according to the RAC.
RAC: Only 3% of council roads maintained last year 08/04/2025 Just 3% of England’s council-run road network received any form of road maintenance during the last financial year, Government data has revealed.
Godstone sinkhole residents able to return home 27/03/2025 Most of the residents of a Surrey village affected by a huge sinkhole are now able to return to their homes, the council has confirmed.
Envirobed® CD534: The benchmark for bedding mortars since 2005 24/03/2025 Since its introduction in 2005, Envirobed® CD534 high performance bedding mortar has established itself as the gold standard of manhole reinstatements.
PM tells councils to ‘get on with the job’ of fixing potholes 24/03/2025 Councils will be required to publish progress reports on what they are doing to tackle potholes if they are to access £1.6bn of highway maintenance funding.
Potholes: Treating the illness not just the symptom 17/03/2025 With the publication of the ALARM survey, chair of the Asphalt Industry Alliance, David Giles, talks to LocalGov about investing in local roads.
ALARM: Pothole repairs backlog hits £17bn 17/03/2025 Council chiefs have repeated their call for long-term funding for road maintenance as the ALARM survey reveals the pothole repairs backlog has reached £17bn.
Lancashire councillors agree £28m for pothole repairs 10/03/2025 Lancashire councillors have earmarked nearly £28m to repair potholes as part of a larger investment in the county’s highways infrastructure over the next year.
DfT throws Norfolk – and Shropshire – a lifeline 05/03/2025 The Department for Transport (DfT) has said it will not ask Norfolk County Council to return £33m funding towards its shelved £274m link road.
Zurich calls for more cash to improve local road safety 04/03/2025 A major council insurer has called for increased funding for local authority road maintenance and more flexibility when spending it.
National Pothole Day founder announces retirement 15/01/2025 The UK’s leading anti-pothole campaigner has announced his retirement after 12 years urging Westminster to do more to improve roads.
'Carbon bomb' warning adds to relief road woes 24/12/2024 Shropshire has shrugged off an estimate of the carbon impact of a road scheme by increasing the budget and timescale for its pledge to offset emissions.
The Bumpy Road Ahead: Labour’s great pothole challenge 17/12/2024 David Giles, chair of the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), discusses the state of the local road system and what Labour should do to help drive improvements.
DfT takes Network North £8.3bn off the table 02/12/2024 Department for Transport officials have made clear that councils can no longer count on the previous Government’s pledge of an extra £8.3bn for highways.
Major Road Network identified as 'road safety priority' 26/11/2024 The crash rate on major local authority roads in England is four times that on National Highways’ strategic road network (SRN), a new report has found.
Jail warning for Welsh residents who reserved parking spots 01/11/2024 A Welsh council has warned residents of a street near Aberystwyth that they could face almost a year in prison for reserving parking spaces with cones.
Unlocking supply chain potential to deliver net zero 29/10/2024 Cllr Paul Dimoldenberg, Westminster City Council, discusses how councils can reach sustainability goals through collaboration with supply chains.
Workers face abuse over road repairs 18/10/2024 Staff and contractors working to maintain roads in West Sussex have faced escalating levels of abuse in recent months, the council has reported.
Pothole-related breakdowns jump by 10,000 07/10/2024 The number of pothole-related breakdowns has increased by 10,000 compared to last year, according to the AA Pothole Index.
Croydon splashes £12.5m on highways 15/08/2024 Croydon Council’s executive mayor has approved a £12.5m capital programme for the borough’s highway infrastructure for 2024-25, as well as a new five-year Highway Asset Management Strategy.
Potholes: What Labour should do to fix local roads 23/07/2024 Campaigner Mark Morrell, known in the media as Mr Pothole, sets out what the new government should do to fix the local road system.
Government failing to track pothole funding, auditors warn 23/07/2024 The Government does not know whether the funding it allocates to councils to fix the pothole-riddled road system is being used effectively, auditors warn.
Highway leaders warn of ‘roadwork gridlock’ 15/07/2024 Nearly two thirds of local highway authority (LHA) leaders believe that we are headed for a road and street work crisis by 2030, new research has revealed.
Lib Dem £300m pothole pledge ‘won’t scratch the surface’ 20/06/2024 The Liberal Democrats have committed to spending £300m over the next Parliament to fill 1.2 million potholes a year.
Labour pledges to fix one million potholes 12/06/2024 One million potholes a year will be fixed if Labour are elected on 4 July, the shadow transport secretary says.
Councils bring in over £127m in bus lane fines 07/06/2024 Local authorities in England brought in a total of £127.3m in revenue from bus lane fines in 2022/23, according to the AA.
RAC issues safety warning over obscured signs 07/06/2024 More than half of motorists say obscured signs are a frequent occurrence on their journeys, according to a survey by the RAC.
RAC: Councils take ‘wildly differing approaches’ to potholes 23/05/2024 Local authorities take very different approaches to deciding whether potholes get fixed, which means many go unrepaired, say RAC and Channel 4’s Dispatches.
ADEPT releases new guidance on commuted sums 21/05/2024 Local place directors have issued new guidance on charging developers for future asset maintenance under the commuted sums system.
LGA launches attack on DfT over traffic fine surplus plans 17/05/2024 Council bosses have hit back at the Department for Transport (DfT) over plans to restrict their ability to generate surpluses from traffic contraventions.
Councils given extra time on signals plans 15/05/2024 The Government has given English highway authorities an extra month to set out what they plan to do with their share of £50m for upgrading traffic signals.
Devon CC to invest £12m in pothole and drainage works 13/05/2024 A new multi-million-pound investment in repairing potholes and boosting road drainage has been agreed by Devon council members.
Council invests emergency £5m to tackle ‘potholes menace’ 13/05/2024 Lancashire County Council has announced an emergency £5m to deal with the ‘potholes menace’ ruining the county’s roads.
Potholes cost economy over £14bn a year 29/04/2024 The poor state of England’s pothole-riddled road system is costing £14.4bn a year in economic damage, new research has revealed.
Avatar director James Cameron backs studio plans 24/04/2024 Oscar winning film director James Cameron has thrown his weight behind proposals for a new film studio in west of London.
RAC: Drivers ‘dodged the pothole bullet’ 23/04/2024 Vehicle owners ‘dodged the pothole bullet’ in what is normally the worst three months of the year for breakdowns, according to the RAC.
Auditors warned over relief road 'iceberg' 19/04/2024 A councillor has asked Shropshire Council’s external auditor to investigate concerns the North West Relief Road will 'completely bankrupt the council'.
Councils publish pothole battle plans 10/04/2024 Local authorities have published which pothole-stricken roads will benefit from the first tranche of an over £8bn package of reallocated HS2 funding.
Council contractor apologises after painting over Zephaniah mural 08/04/2024 A council contractor has apologized after painting over a mural of the late poet and Peaky Blinders star Benjamin Zephaniah in central Birmingham.
Oxfordshire signs first scheme under new 'brownfield fund' 28/03/2024 Oxfordshire County Council is the first local authority to secure project funding through Homes England's Brownfield, Infrastructure and Land (BIL) Fund.
UltraCrete partners with Salford City College 27/03/2024 A new UltraCrete and Salford City College Group partnership will see Highways Maintenance Skilled Operative Apprenticeship students become UCARS Accredited.
VolkerFitzpatrick wins £38m Kent viaduct project 26/03/2024 Kent County Council has appointed VolkerFitzpatrick to design and build a highway crossing over a rail line and river near Canterbury.
UltraCrete improving road safety near Shrewsbury 26/02/2024 UltraCrete has joined forces with Highway Workforce to repair and replace a failed carriageway frame and cover on a busy road near Shrewsbury.
Councils 'have tightened pothole payout criteria' 05/02/2024 Compensation paid by councils for damage caused by potholes has fallen by more than a half, with some giving out ‘next to nothing’.
Hants seeks to avoid cost risk on £125m scheme 02/02/2024 Hampshire County Council is facing a funding gap on the A326 North Waterside Improvements scheme, if cost increases go beyond a current estimate of £125m.
Second council U-turns on pesticide use 01/02/2024 Cambridgeshire County Council has agreed to reintroduce chemical weed killer, following Brighton's recent call to recommence pesticide treatment.
Velocity’s low carbon interventions help prevent and repair potholes 11/01/2024 With National Pothole Day upon us once more, highways maintenance specialists Velocity discuss their innovative spray-injection patching technique.
Potholes: the drivers’ biggest pain 10/01/2024 Jack Cousens, head of roads policy at the AA, discusses the scourge of potholes and what councils should do to fix the local road network.
Pothole claims up record 40%, insurer reveals 09/01/2024 The number of pothole-related claims increased by a record 40% last year when compared to 2022, the latest data from Admiral Car Insurance has revealed.
Kent slammed by councillors over ‘last-minute’ repairs deal 05/01/2024 A extension to Kent CC's highways term maintenance contract with Amey has been criticised as an unacceptable 'last-minute approach to a critical service'.
Parking meters face disruption from 2G switch off 18/12/2023 Parking meters, alarm systems and telecare devices risk facing disruption when 2G and 3G mobile networks are switched off, council chiefs warn.
Live Labs Centre of Excellence open for business 08/12/2023 An £8.5m Government-funded research project into building and maintaining roads with low-carbon and recycled materials now open for submissions.
Brum keeps shtum over funding axe reasons 06/12/2023 Birmingham CC has received a document setting out ministers’ reasons for pulling funding from its £2.7bn highways PFI contract but has refused to disclose it.
£8bn of HS2 savings to be spent on ending pothole ‘blight’ 17/11/2023 Transport secretary Mark Harper has confirmed the allocations of an £8.3bn plan to resurface England’s pothole-marked roads, set out in the wake of HS2 cuts.
AA seeks new pothole cash as councils face cut 30/10/2023 Councils ‘desperately need’ more highway maintenance funding to address the deteriorating condition of local roads, the AA has said after its worst September fixing ‘pothole-related’ breakdowns for five years.
Oflog moves to expand remit 30/10/2023 The new Office for Local Government (Oflog) watchdog has proposed to widen its scope to five new service areas.
Council's failure to fix pothole blamed for man’s death 17/10/2023 A man died after falling from his bike when it entered a crack in the road that had been identified to Lancashire County Council, a coroner has found.
Exclusive: DfT drops self-assessment process 10/10/2023 The Department for Transport has ended the highways self-assessment process, removing the incentive element of local maintenance capital funding.
No dates for HS2 pothole cash 05/10/2023 The Government has admitted it does not have a timescale for the billions of pounds for road resurfacing that it announced after the decision to curtail HS2.
Greening Up: why, where and how 03/10/2023 Nicholas Boys Smith, director of Create Streets, sets out how local councils can improve the level of urban greenery and why they should.
Road conditions add flood risk to pothole ‘crisis’ 27/09/2023 English councils received hundreds of compensation claims for flood damage in recent years as they struggled to maintain roadside drainage, according to study.
Street Manager limitations cost councils millions 08/09/2023 The Local Government Association has released a report it buried three years ago covering the financial impact of the Government's Street Manager software.
Wet July sees rise in pothole-related breakdowns 21/08/2023 This year is set to be one of the worst on record for damage caused by potholes, according to the AA, after July saw pothole-related breakdowns up a fifth.
The great pothole repair failure 16/08/2023 The UK has fallen far behind other countries when it comes to funding pothole repairs. Asphalt Industry Alliance's Rick Green discusses what needs to be done.
Councils pay out £11m in pothole-related compensation 24/07/2023 Over the past four years councils have paid out more than £11m to drivers who successfully claimed their vehicles had been damaged by potholes, RAC reveals.
Guidance on new road condition surveys pushed back 07/07/2023 The Department of Transport's (DfT) guidance on the new regime for local authority road condition surveys is delayed until next summer, a DfT official says.
Drivers face ‘pothole postcode lottery’, FoI reveals 17/04/2023 Some councils in England are taking over a month on average to fix potholes once they have been reported, a freedom of information (FoI) request has revealed.
High concentration of potholes in North, survey finds 12/04/2023 Half of the 20 councils in England found to have the highest concentration of reported potholes are in the North, according to a new survey.
Clampdown on utility companies leaving potholes 31/03/2023 Reduced traffic congestion has been promised by Government as a result of a clampdown on utility companies leaving potholes after carrying out street works.
Council chiefs call for £130m to fix potholes 10/03/2023 The Government spent 31 times more maintaining motorways and major highways last year than funding councils to repair pothole-ridden local roads, study finds.
Councils forced to axe road improvement schemes 10/03/2023 Councils are planning to axe millions of pounds of road improvements because of rising costs and lack of funds, according to new research.
Lancashire County Council is set to pass its first £1bn budget 10/02/2023 Members have been told that the current financial outlook was ‘generally positive thanks to careful management’.
Barnet Council ‘insources’ services after decade-long campaign 01/02/2023 More than 300 staff in Barnet are to be transferred back to council employment after a decade-long union campaign.
EV charging: An alternative strategy 06/12/2022 From earning money to making use of wind power, Colin Townend outlines the benefits of overnight home charging.
Council to bid for new traffic enforcement powers 15/11/2022 Sheffield Council is to apply to the Government for new traffic enforcement powers to stop drivers making illegal manoeuvres.
Exclusive: Council interventions could remove one billion miles of car journeys each week 15/11/2022 Councils could remove one billion miles of car journeys from our roads each week by taking the right policy and funding measures, new research has revealed today.
RAC slams councils over pothole repair quality 11/11/2022 Six in 10 drivers believe the condition of the local roads they use regularly is worse than a year ago, with almost as many (55%) saying the standard of pothole repairs is ‘poor’, according to the latest RAC annual survey.
How intelligent AI technology can transform road safety and reduce near misses 10/11/2022 Mark Nicholson explains how computer vision can better equip our roads to spot and reduce near misses, casualties and transform road safety.
20mph speed limit could save £100m in first year, research finds 07/11/2022 A 20mph speed limit across Wales could save £100m in the first year due to a reduction in deaths and injuries, new research has found.
Balfour Beatty appointed as sole contractor to £4bn framework 28/09/2022 International infrastructure group Balfour Beatty has been appointed as the sole contractor to two SCAPE civil engineering frameworks worth a total of £4bn.
Engagement with local authorities is key to safety on the streets 15/08/2022 Mike Bell explains how the Thomas Pocklington Trust is working with councils to ensure e-scooters are safer for blind and partially sighted people.
£5.7bn city region allocations and delivery plans confirmed 05/08/2022 Delivery plans have been confirmed for more than £5bn of local highways, transport and active travel schemes under the Department for Transport's (DfT) City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) programme.
Overheating roads 'a challenge for councils' 22/07/2022 Highway authorities will struggle to future-proof their assets as climate change leads to higher road surface temperatures, despite improvements in the performance of materials, a key sector figure has warned.
Welsh parliament votes for 20mph default 13/07/2022 The Welsh Senedd has approved legislation to lower the default national speed limit on residential roads and busy pedestrian streets in the country from 30mph to 20mph.
The importance of roadside maintenance for traffic sign visibility 11/07/2022 Danny Adamson discusses the importance of signage visibility and the factors that should be considered.
NI councils welcome funding for greenway and active travel schemes 07/07/2022 Councils in Northern Ireland have been urged to apply for funding to deliver greenways and active travel schemes.
Council to use artificial salt marshes to clean waste water 24/06/2022 A new scheme in Leicestershire will see artificially created salt marshes being used to clean oils, diesel and chemicals in water collected from road gullies.
Four transport schemes receive £160m funding boost 06/06/2022 Ministers have announced or confirmed a total of £160.8m for four major road and bridge schemes on the local road network in England.
New tool for councils to plan safer active travel schemes 06/06/2022 A free planning tool to help local authorities make active travel safer and less stressful for users has been launched by the Road Safety Foundation.
Birmingham's Clean Air Zone leads to fall in emissions 06/06/2022 The number of the most polluting vehicles entering Birmingham city centre has fallen by more than half since the Clean Air Zone was introduced a year ago, the council has reported.
DfT seeks ‘fair' moving traffic offence enforcement 01/06/2022 The Department for Transport has issued statutory guidance for local authorities outside London on applying for and using civil enforcement powers for bus lane and moving traffic contraventions.
Smarter steps to a greener future 24/05/2022 Brightly’s digital asset management solution, Confirm, is helping local authorities to streamline their operations, cut costs and contribute to the wider, global sustainability mission. Hannah Winstanley explains more.
Council blocks scrutiny over bizarre £7m contract roll-over 06/05/2022 Greenwich Council has refused to disclose why it has handed out a £7m contract without a competitive tender and has blocked scrutiny of the move.
Low carbon approaches to road maintenance 05/05/2022 Rick Green talks about the findings of this year’s Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey regarding the measures being taken on the path to net zero asphalt.
New trial to crack down on 'rowdy' motorists 03/05/2022 A new trial to help local authorities tackle loud engines and exhausts on Britain’s noisiest streets has been launched by the Government.
How IoT is helping local authorities keep their infrastructure assets safe from harm 21/04/2022 Manish Jethwa outlines how local authorities are using Internet of Things (IoT) to monitor infrastructure assets and remediate faults and other issues, as and when required.
Council resurfaces road using recycled car tyres 21/04/2022 A new technique that uses recycled car tyres to resurface roads has been used in Lancashire for the first time, the county council has confirmed.
Council will declare 'major incident' if congestion persists 08/04/2022 The leader of Dover District Council has warned he won't hesitate to declare a major incident if the town faces gridlock this weekend.
LA maintenance funding frozen after cut fears 04/03/2022 The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced individual allocations for all local highway authorities outside London and the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) – with cash frozen at 2021-2022 levels for the next three years.
Kirklees raises unclassified road spend by £10m 23/02/2022 Kirklees Council has approved an additional £10m to tackle improvements on its 895-mile network of unclassified roads.