West Sussex County Council has published its Local Highways Maintenance Transparency Report that details its preventative approach to highways maintenance.
The report was created in response to the requirement from the UK Department for Transport (DfT) for all local highways authorities to publish information about their highways maintenance activities.
The DfT set out that the report should present local level information about the overall state of the county’s road network, including what percentage of roads are in what condition, and how this has changed in recent years.
West Sussex has a 2,500 mile highway network that, according to the report, experienced its highest rate of safety defects on record for the year 2024/2025.
The council stated that this was due in part to periods of extreme fluctuations in weather across the seasons in recent years.
In response, the council has allocated additional funding in the current and past two financial years, to support a more proactive maintenance approach.
READ MORE: Herefordshire publishes Local Highways Maintenance Transparency Report
The council stated that this proactive approach provides additional resource to fix potholes and increased capacity for drainage works including jetting, gully repairs and digging of grips and roadside ditches.
The additional funding has also allowed for an increase in the Highways, Transport and Planning Delivery Programme which delivers highway infrastructure maintenance schemes.
The programme focuses on improving carriageway and footway surfaces as well as maintaining of highways infrastructure such as bridges and traffic signals.
Each of these measures aim to strengthen the resilience of the highway network and reduce the impact of extreme weather events, particularly during the winter period.
West Sussex County Council cabinet member for highways and transport, Joy Dennis, said: “I hope that this report will help our residents to understand that the scale of the county’s highway assets is substantial and managing them effectively, so that residents and businesses can go about their daily lives with minimal disruption, is no small task.
“When factoring in both operational and financial constraints, the complexity of this responsibility becomes even more apparent.
“As is the case across much of the country, maintaining road conditions in West Sussex presents ongoing challenges.
“This report demonstrates that, despite the difficulties faced by the Highways team, the Council’s performance – aligned with the Council Plan and national best practices – is commendable.”
Achievements and innovations in sustainable transport planning will be recognised and celebrated at the fourth annual CiTTi Awards on 25 November 2025 at De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in London. Visit www.cittiawards.co.uk to learn more about this unmissable event for the UK’s transportation sector!
