Local Highways Maintenance Transparency Report

Introduction to our Highway Network

Dudley Council manages and maintains adopted highway assets falling within its 1,033km network. Comprising mainly of carriageways, footways, verges, highway drainage, highway structures, streetlights, road signs, road markings, street furniture, urban traffic control telemetry and public rights of way.

The council does not maintain trunk roads or motorways which are the responsibility of National Highways.

Lengths of Highway and Footways

Highway Maintenance Spending

Highway maintenance spend typically comprises: 

• Structural highway resurfacing programmes
• Preventative highway surfacing programmes
• Planned highway patching programmes
• Reactive and emergency repairs - including pothole filling
• Street lighting maintenance and repairs
• Cyclical maintenance - such as highway drainage gully cleansing
• Local watercourse maintenance
• Bridges and structures
• Signs and road markings
• Traffic signals and pedestrian crossing facilities
• Public rights of ways
• Green assets – such as highway trees and verges

One of the biggest concerns road users express within stakeholder satisfaction surveys often relates to potholes.  Dudley undertakes structured maintenance interventions annually to tackle the damage.

Estimate of Potholes Filled

Condition of Local Roads

Road condition data for Classified Principal A roads and Classified Non-Principal B & C roads in England is currently collected using Surface Condition Assessment for the National Network of Roads (SCANNER) machine surveys employing laser-based technology.

A number of parameters measured in these surveys are used to produce a road condition indicator which is categorised into three condition bands.

• Red – Should be considered for maintenance
• Amber – Maintenance may be required soon
• Green – No further investigation or maintenance required

Road condition data for Unclassified roads in England is currently collected using Coarse Visual Inspections (CVI) surveys, undertaken by accredited inspectors to categorise coarse condition to identify a single condition band for Unclassified roads.

• Red – Should be considered for maintenance

Percentage of Classified Principal A roads in each condition category

Percentage of Classified Non-Principal B and C roads in each condition category

SCANNER surveys are carried out across 100% of the B and C road network in both directions over a 2-year period.

Percentage of Unclassified roads in the – Red condition category

Surveys are carried out annually across 100% of the Unclassified Road network over a 4-year period.  25% of the Unclassified Road network is surveyed each year.

From 2026/27 a new methodology will be used based on the BSI PAS2161 standard. Local Highway Authorities will be required to use a supplier that has been accredited against PAS2161.  This new standard will categorise roads into five categories instead of three to help the government gain a more detailed understanding of road condition in England.

The condition of Dudley Council’s classified road network has benefited significantly from the injection of additional funding over recent years because of two successful West Midlands and Department for Transport (DfT) Challenge Fund investment initiatives which secured an additional £9.2 million (2016) and £3.9 million (2019) of government grant funding to improve the condition of many of the region’s most heavily trafficked roads.

Overall Strategy

Dudley Council is committed to a highway asset management approach for the long-term maintenance of its highway infrastructure assets. Methodologies comply with national guidance and best practice, including the recommendations set out in the DfT’s and UK Roads Liaison Groups ‘Well Managed Highway Infrastructure: A Code of Practice’ published October 2016.

Asset management planning also supports the regional objectives and priorities developed by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) and Transport for the West Midlands (TfWM), who coordinate and manage Traffic and Transportation policy and strategy for the West Midlands Key Route Network (KRN) within a cohesive and structured framework.

The council works closely with its West Midlands neighbouring authorities through the Highways Infrastructure Managers Group (HIMG) forum, and the Combined Authority to keep pace with the latest asset management innovations and emerging technologies.

In recent years this has included the development of shared procurement and contract mechanisms; creation of a central data repository; joint technology resources and database developments; collaborative funding bids; integrated process/material innovation trials across the region; joint strategies, service standards, and cross boundary initiatives.

Increased collaboration has provided favourable economies of scale and increased efficiency opportunities to reduce exposure to risk by adopting consistent standards and shared service levels across the region.

Specific Plans for 2025/26

The council aims to implement a balanced maintenance strategy designed to remedy structural deterioration using resurfacing schemes where assessments and risk dictates needs, supported by focussed preventative maintenance programmes designed to extend the serviceable life of highway surfaces in accordance with lifecycle planning principles.

Works programmes are compiled using Dudley Council cabinet approved methodologies which risk assesses various: condition, hierarchy/usage, social, economic and other miscellaneous engineering related parameters to prioritise current and future needs.

During 2025/26 Dudley’s provisional maintenance programmes aim to:

• Resurface around 15.7km of carriageways investing £2.4 million
• Reconstruct around 12.1km of carriageways investing £3 million
• Surface treat and protect around 3.7km of carriageways investing £150,000
• Reconstruct around 4km of footways investing £388,000
• Refurbish around 3.1km of footways investing £200,000
• Structural patching and Panned Maintenance £500,000

With specific regard to potholes, Dudley Council acknowledges the recommendations set out in Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme (HMEP) ‘Prevention and a Better Cure’ which advocates three core drivers for efficient operational practices:

• Prevention is better than cure – intervening at the right time will reduce the number of potholes forming and prevent bigger problems later
• Right first time – do it once and get it right, rather than face continuous bills
• Clarity for the public – local highway authorities need to communicate to the public what is being done and how it’s being done

The council undertakes structured highway safety inspections across the borough to identify defects including potholes.  Depending on the severity of defect such as a pothole they are addressed through either reactive maintenance or programmed works.

During the last twelve months the highways team have been undertaking “Nighttime Blitz” packages of work at the most problematic and busy Classified Road junction locations in the borough and this will continue throughout this year.

In addition, a “Daytime Blitz” is also underway on the Unclassified network but predominantly estate roads which are sometimes overlooked but we recognise that the minor sides roads can create an enormous volume of defect reports which need to be inspected and categorised for severity, so the “Daytime Blitz” works is attacking this problem head-on.  The highway team are looking to spend £1.3m on the “Daytime Blitz” programme of work which should rectify in the region of 30,000 square metres of potholes.

Preventative maintenance is also high up the agenda when it comes to maintaining our highways and prevention is better than cure.  We have annual programmes of work which are traditionally Surface Dressing, Micro Asphalt and Slurry seal applications.

Being forward thinking we are extending our approaches with Thin Surfacing and Footway Refurbishment techniques that have longer lasting results and are welcomed by the public.

Further preventive works include highway crack sealing and high-quality hot applied rubber modified mastic asphalt manhole surround seal.  Both these highway maintenance techniques can return long lasting road repairs and prevent routine regular maintenance.

Streetworks

Dudley carefully coordinates street works to minimise disruptions, ensuring efficient resource management and shared road space accessibility. The council adheres to statutory guidelines, including the New Roads and Street Works Act (NRSWA) 1991, Highways and Utilities Commissions (HAUC) Guidance Procedures 2025, and the Department for Transport’s (DfT) Code of Practice for Street Works Inspections 2023, which outline the responsibilities of utility companies and the regulatory duties of the Highway Authority.

To effectively oversee street works, Dudley operates a permit scheme system, enabling thorough monitoring and management of activities. The council utilises up-to-date traffic management information, including lane closures, with timely notifications published on its website, press releases, and social media platforms to keep stakeholders informed.

Climate Change, Resilience and Adaptation

The West Midlands regional highway authorities have collaborated closely with the Combined Authority and Transport for the West Midlands to develop a better understanding of the negative impacts of highway infrastructure maintenance activities upon the environment, and to seek better ways to mitigate or offset the carbon generated by highway works.

Dudley has actively participated in the Future Highways Research Group (FHRG) “Live Labs 2” Carbon Calculation Accounting Standard and Analysis Programme endorsed by the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning & transport (ADEPT), to develop enhanced practices for its highway’s maintenance operations.

The process is designed to increase awareness for highways maintenance practitioners to lead them towards better decision making and to adopt new technologies, materials and processes over the longer-term throughout the supply chain, reducing as far as practical the carbon costs associated with delivering maintenance works.

Dudley’s partners and contractors have contributed pro-actively to the process, including delivering maintenance schemes utilising Low Energy Asphalt (LEA) materials. The increased use of preventative maintenance programmes also helps bring about greater asset lifecycles across the network, thus reducing carbon, and the use of recycled materials is being increasingly considered within the preliminary design of planned maintenance schemes.