Highways maintenance transparency report 2026/27

How we maintain local roads, pavements, and the wider highway network in North East Lincolnshire.

What we are responsible for maintaining

North East Lincolnshire Council is responsible for maintaining an extensive highway network of roads, footways, cycleways and associated infrastructure.

The key assets within this network are summarised below.

Carriageways – 383 miles total length
Footways – 478 miles total length
Cycleways – 25 miles total length
Bridges – a total of 92
Street lighting columns – a total of 20,416
Traffic signal junctions – a total of 39

Other assets: The council also maintains more than 20 other types of highway asset across North East Lincolnshire that are not included in this summary.

All maintenance of the trunk road network within North East Lincolnshire is the responsibility of National Highways. This trunk road network includes the A180, from from the M180 (Barnetby Interchange to Pyewipe Roundabout).

Perhaps the biggest challenge to maintaining the highway network is the challenge resulting from the impacts of climate change on an aged network. Adverse weather, heat damage and flooding can cause rapid deterioration and damage to the highway network on an already ageing asset. Hotter conditions soften asphalt, leading to rutting and cracking, while more frequent and intense storms contribute to surface water run-off, ground movement, and potholes. This is also compounded by limited available funding for highway maintenance in recent years resulting in longer timeframes between planned maintenance interventions.

Road conditions in North East Lincolnshire

This section provides detail on the local road condition in North East Lincolnshire as reported to the Department for Transport via Single Data list requirements.

Year	Percentage of road in red category	Percentage of road in amber category	Percentage of road in green category
2023	2%	17%	81%
2024	2%	17%	81%
2025	2%	19%	79%

Year	Percentage of road in red category	Percentage of road in amber category	Percentage of road in green category
2023	3%	25%	72%
2024	3%	25%	72%
2025	4%	29%	68%

Year	Percentage of road in red category
2023	17%
2024	32%
2025	32%

Note: Preliminary analysis of the survey results for FYE 2026 indicates a reduction in the proportion of the unclassified network categorised as red-rated, subject to validation. This change was anticipated following previously identified concerns regarding the quality of CVI data supplied by an earlier survey provider in 2022. Under the standard three-year survey cycle, the sections surveyed in 2022 have now been re-surveyed, and the new data supersedes the earlier results. The revised position brings performance back in line with the previous trend and is considered more representative of the actual condition of the local unclassified network.

All 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 condition include more detail about the methodology, timing and coverage of this data.

Road condition on England’s classified local road network is mainly assessed using SCANNER laser-based surveys, which measure several surface parameters to produce a Road Condition Indicator (RCI) and traffic-light condition rating.

In North East Lincolnshire, unclassified road data is collected through Coarse Visual Inspection (CVI) surveys, which record carriageway defects such as edge deterioration, subsidence, wheel-track cracking and rutting.

The unclassified network forms the largest part of the borough’s highway network. CVI surveys in 2022 showed notable deterioration, including 11km of roads that had worsened despite recent surface treatment. These findings were reviewed in detail with the survey contractor, but no agreement was reached. The same network was resurveyed in 2025/26, with early validation indicating an improvement in the proportion of red-rated unclassified roads.

What we are doing about potholes and other road defects

There is no nationally agreed definition of a pothole, and many road users regard surface defects of any size or shape as potholes. In North East Lincolnshire, a pothole is defined as a carriageway defect that is at least 40mm deep and extends more than 300mm in length.

Potholes commonly form when water enters small cracks in the road surface, freezes and expands, weakening the material. As vehicles pass over these weakened areas, the surface can break down further, particularly on older roads.

Repairs are mainly identified through routine safety inspections and prioritised using a dynamic on-site risk assessment. This considers factors such as the defect’s size and depth, its location, and the road’s speed limit. Repair timescales range from 24 hours to up to three working months, depending on the level of risk, although repairs are completed sooner where possible.

Through delivery of the Council’s Highway Inspection and Maintenance Policy during financial year 2025-26, a total of 1082 pothole repairs were completed in North East Lincolnshire. It should be noted that a single repair may include one or more potholes. Repairs are prioritised based on the assessed risk presented by each defect, and permanent repairs are programmed where it is safe and practical to do so. However, in some circumstances, a temporary repair may be necessary where completing a permanent repair would conflict with other network activities or create a risk to public safety. Temporary repairs are used as a short-term measure, with a permanent repair scheduled as soon as practicable thereafter.

While there will inevitably always be a need for reactive maintenance to ensure the highway is maintained in a safe condition, North East Lincolnshire Council applies an asset management approach to highway maintenance. This means funding is focused on preventative maintenance, informed by asset management plans and based on a risk-based, whole-life approach, which helps reduce the need for more costly emergency repairs. Preventative maintenance treatments, including annual programmes of surface dressing and micro surfacing, are delivered across North East Lincolnshire, and future programmes will also trial asphalt rejuvenation treatments. These treatments help seal the road surface against water ingress, reducing the rate of deterioration, pothole formation and the need for repeat visits to the same locations.

The public can submit reports of potholes and other highway defects to North East Lincolnshire Council via an online reporting system or via telephone call to the council’s switchboard on 01472 313131. The online form enables residents to provide details of the location and type of defect so it can be assessed and prioritised.

Report an issue

Upon receipt of a report regarding a highway defect the location will be inspected by a highways officer. The response time for the inspection ranges from 24 hours to 3 days dependent on the priority of the report. The inspection will follow the same principles of cyclic inspections, which are designed to identify all defects likely to create danger or serious inconvenience to users of the network or the wider community. Such defects include those that will require urgent attention (within 24 hours) as well as those where the locations and sizes of the defect are such that longer periods of response would be acceptable.

Visit our potholes page for more information.

What we spend to maintain the highway network and where the funding is coming from

Spending on highways maintenance

	2024-25	2025-26	2026-27 (projected)
Total spend on highways maintenance	£13,196,000	£11,279,957	£23,385,649
Of which spent on:
Carriageways	£4,331,829	£4,539,844	£6,670,874
Footways	£677,861	£504,598	£5,548,000
Structures (for example bridges or tunnels)	£4,712,884	£2,467,000	£4,636,475
Drainage	£1,368,000	£1,245,000	£2,587,500
Street lighting	£596,000	£1,305,500	£2,492,100
Traffic Signals	£1,030,076	£497,000	£917,000
Other assets	£479,350	£721,015	£533,700

Where our funding for highways maintenance comes from

Funding sources for highways maintenance	2024-25	2025-26	2026-27 (projected)
Funding received through the Department for Transport / UK Government	£10,765,000	£8,347,000	£20,568,349
[if applicable]: Additional highways maintenance funding provided by the Council or third parties	£2,431,000	£2,932,957	£2,817,300
Total	£13,196,000	£11,279,957	£23,385,649

Our maintenance plans for this year

Our plans for highways maintenance for 2026-27

In 2026-27 North East Lincolnshire Council Plans to undertake maintenance to over 16 miles of the local road network.

Provided below is a summary of the highway maintenance plans for the financial year:

12 street to be resurfaced totalling 6 miles of new surfacing.
47 Streets to have preventative road surface treatment applied– surface dressing & Micro-asphalt – totalling 7 miles of road.
4 roads and over 2.5 miles of preventative road surface treatment – Asphalt rejuvenation.
10 additional roads and over 5,000 m2 of preparatory patching ahead of 2027-28 surface treatment programme.
2 streets programmed for footway resurfacing totalling 0.8 miles of new footway surface
23 streets programmed for footway surface treatment in the form of a micro-surfacing Slurry seal totalling over 5.5 miles of footway.

A full list of the council’s highway maintenance capital programme for 2026/27 can be found in the related documents section below.

Highway maintenance programmes are prioritised using data from robust asset management of the network. Condition surveys provide the basis for scheme prioritisation, helping identify roads presenting the greatest risk. This is supported by safety inspection data, trends in reactive repairs, skid resistance data and highway user requests, which are combined to produce a maintenance priority score. The highest-scoring sites are then reviewed in detail for potential inclusion in the forward highway maintenance programme.

When annual programmes are finalised, wider highway infrastructure, including street lighting, road safety features, traffic calming, highway structures and transport routes, is reviewed with Highways and Transport colleagues. This supports coordinated delivery, maximises available budgets, reduces repeat visits and helps minimise disruption to the network.