Local Highways Maintenance Transparency Report 2026

Below is a summary of the key highway assets and their quantities. While not exhaustive, it demonstrates the scale of the network and assets within the highway extent.

• Carriageways - total length 620km
• Footways - total length 1159km
• Cycle ways - total length 49km
• Street lighting assets - total 22,489
• Traffic signal assets total - 6,502
• Highway Structures - total 159
• Highway drainage assets - total 25,479
• Other highway assets 

Brighton & Hove City Council faces significant challenges in maintaining its highway assets due to historic underinvestment and an ageing network requiring increasing intervention. 

The city manages around 150km of concrete roads, many nearing the end of their design life and becoming more prone to deterioration and costly repairs. Climate change adds further pressure, with more frequent extreme temperatures causing expansion and contraction of materials, while intense rainfall accelerates deterioration and increases the risk of asset failure. 

The city's coastal location exposes infrastructure to salt-laden air and harsh environmental conditions, reducing asset lifespan. In addition, Brighton & Hove has the UK's largest population of elm trees, whose extensive root systems can damage footways, kerbs and carriageways. 

As the city also has the highest bus use outside London, frequent heavy vehicle movements place additional strain on road surfaces, particularly residential roads. Together, these factors challenge the delivery of a safe, resilient and sustainable highway network.

A2.1. A roads 

A2.2. B and C roads

A2.3. U roads

Councils use road condition surveys to assess the state of their roads. The results are grouped into three categories:

• green - the road is in good condition and no further investigation or treatment is required
• amber - the road may need maintenance soon
• red - the road is in poor condition and should be considered for maintenance

The published official statistics for road conditions include more detail about the methodology, timing and coverage of this data.

A2.4. - Additional information on carriageway condition

Historically, road condition data was collected using SCANNER. In 2023 to 2024, the Council adopted a new data collection method to improve accuracy. As a result, the increase in the proportion of roads classified as red from 2024 reflects the change in methodology rather than a significant deterioration in network condition.

The Council now undertakes Annual Engineers Inspections (AEIs), carried out by qualified engineers who assess the full network and identify appropriate treatments for practical lengths of road, typically between junctions. This provides a more realistic assessment of maintenance needs and costs.

Condition ratings are:

• green - as new or up to standard
• amber - requires preventative maintenance
• red - requires structural maintenance

From 2026 to 2027, the Department for Transport will introduce the PAS 2161 standard, which will classify roads into five categories instead of three. This may result in further shifts in reported condition data before a new baseline is established.

A3.1. What is a pothole?

Brighton & Hove City Council does not define a pothole by its size alone. Instead, we use a risk-based approach to decide when repairs are needed. Road defects are inspected once there is an abrupt level difference of 40mm deep, while pavement defects are inspected at 20mm deep. 

Highway Inspectors then assess the risk by considering factors such as traffic levels, the location of the defect, and the likelihood of it causing an accident. Repairs are prioritised based on risk and may be completed within 2 hours, 24 hours, 7 days or 28 days.

When potholes and other defects keep reappearing on the same road, it is usually a sign that the road surface has reached the end of its life and needs resurfacing. As funding is limited, it is not possible to resurface every road immediately. Repairing the highest-risk defects helps keep roads safe until more extensive repairs can be carried out.

A3.2. What we are doing to tackle potholes

Brighton & Hove City Council is taking a prevention-first approach to tackling potholes. Rather than waiting for roads to deteriorate, we invest in an extensive planned maintenance programme that treats roads before significant defects develop, helping to extend their lifespan, reduce whole-life maintenance costs and prevent potholes from forming in the first place. 

Our preventative treatments include micro asphalt, which protects and extends the life of road surfaces, as well as large-scale patching and jointing programmes that target the worst sections of carriageway to delay the need for full resurfacing, which is both costly and carbon intensive. 

Where roads do fail, our priority is to carry out permanent repairs wherever possible. However, on busy roads and at junctions, access can sometimes be restricted, meaning a temporary repair may be required to make the area safe before a permanent repair is completed within 28 days. In 2025/26, we estimate that we repaired 8,328 potholes across our network. 

This year, we are also exploring the use of new repair technology and machinery, which we hope will reduce the need for temporary repairs and enable more defects to be fixed right first time.

A3.3. How members of public can report potholes and other highway defects

In 2025/26, the Council introduced a new online reporting tool to make it easier for residents to report potholes and other highway safety issues. Residents can now pinpoint problems on a map and upload photos, helping officers assess and prioritise issues more quickly. The system covers a range of concerns including potholes, street lighting, traffic signals, drainage and public rights of way, allowing a range of issues to be reported in one place. Reports are automatically sent to the correct team, reducing delays and improving response times.

The public can report safety issues on our roads via this link - Roads, pavements and potholes - report damage

A3.4. What happens after a pothole is reported 

When the Council receives a report of a pothole or other highway safety issue, it is reviewed and triaged to identify duplicate reports and defects already known to us. During peak periods, particularly in winter, we can receive around 200 reports per day. 

While we are unable to provide individual responses to every report, all reports are reviewed and investigated as required. New defects are allocated to the relevant Highway Inspector, who will investigate and act in line with our Highway Reactive Safety Maintenance and Inspection Policy. We are also exploring automated resident updates for the future.

A4.1. Spending on highways maintenance

 A4.2. Where our funding for highways maintenance comes from

A5.1. Our plans for highways maintenance for 2026 to 2027

Planned Highway Maintenance in 2026 to 2027 includes but is not limited to the following activities:

• 4 km of carriageway reconstruction and strengthening 
• 7 km of carriageway resurfacing 
• 11 km of preventative micro asphalt treatments 
• 5 km of large scale planned patching and jointing across 19 sites 
• the removal of 20 tree stumps at sites with significant root damage to improve accessibility 
• 2143 m2 of bus stop road strengthening 
• 4,972 m2 of footway large-scale patching and resurfacing  
• 10450m2 of footway preventative maintenance
• safety improvements to vehicle restraint systems at 8 locations 
• upgrade and refurbishment of 5 signalised junctions and 3 signalised pedestrian crossings 
• planned maintenance on 10 highway structures 
• painting of 272 cast iron lamp columns as part of a rolling programme to extend asset life 
• complete restoration of 15 to 20 historic lamp columns along Brighton seafront 

A5.2. Full list of planned carriageway and footway works  

You can view our Road maintenance programme 2026 to 2027. 

You can view the details of the wider capital programme in the Transport Capital and Maintenance Programme 2026 to 2027 Cabinet Report.

A5.3. How decisions are made on our maintenance plans  

We prioritise highway maintenance using a data-led lifecycle approach that helps us identify the right treatment, at the right time, on the right road. Annual condition surveys, asset data and predictive modelling enable us to target preventative maintenance while roads are still in good condition, extending asset life, reducing whole-life costs and lowering carbon emissions. This approach helps keep good roads in good condition for longer and delays the need for expensive resurfacing. 

Our annual programme is prioritised through a two-stage process. First, an automated assessment ranks roads based on factors such as condition, deterioration rates, inspection reports, network importance, reactive maintenance costs, proximity to key services and ride quality. Secondly, engineers carry out detailed site assessments and review schemes to consider site-specific factors including planned developments, capital projects, utility works, affordability and alignment with lifecycle budget allocations. 

This risk-based approach delivers the greatest value from the available funding, maintaining more of the network in a safe and serviceable condition. 

The full Local Highways Maintenance Transparency Report 2026

To view the full Local Highways Maintenance Transparency Report 2026, including the Technical Annex, download the PDF from the top of the page.