Maintaining our roads and highways

It’s our job to make sure roads are safe to use. We maintain 1,979 miles of footways and cycleways, 60,327 street lights, 59,724 traffic signals and 147,000 drains. Bridges, lines and signs are also often our responsibility too.

Our roadworks map shows what is currently planned or is happening now. This will keep you up to date with any changes to our plans.

Want to report something you’ve spotted? Take a look at our street maintenance guide or report it on Fix My Street.

Planning road maintenance

The work we do is planned well in advance and is decided based on approved budgets. Plans can change though – the weather is just one of the things that can affect whether we can get out and about.

How frequently we inspect and what we use for repairs is in the Highways Inspection Safety Policy.

How do we work out what order to fix things in?

The process is broadly split into two phases:

Currently, 13.1% of our road network is identified as being in poor condition. That is better than the English average of 18% but is still something we want to improve on.

Cleaning drains and gullies

Blocked drains and gullies on our roads can cause flooding.

There are 147,000 gullies in Oxfordshire. This year and next, we are cleaning every gully and catchpit.

All other gullies form part of a planned schedule of work delivered by M Group, our partner.

We have cleaned 59,000 gullies so far this year.

What we need to consider

• The best time to visit. We want the best chance of accessing the gully.
• If repairs are needed to improve water flow and reduce surface water. These may need to be passed to a specialist team.
• The most effective way to clean the drain or gully. Suction, high pressure jets and manual excavation are all methods used to help remove silt and debris build up.
• The British weather. It can mean schedules have to change which is why it is hard to provide exact dates for our work.

In November, we’ll be visiting the following areas:

• Ambrosden & Chesterton
• Launton
• Caversfield
• Benson & Crowmarsh
• Didcot South
• Wallingford
• Cumnor
• Drayton
• Kennington & Radley
• Sutton Courtenay
• Wootton
• Alvescot & Filkins
• Ascott & Shipton
• Bampton & Clanfield
• Carterton Northwest
• Carterton South
• · Milton-under-Wychwood The full programme: Gully Cleansing Programme Dates (xlsx format, 14KB)

How you can help

• Keep an eye on when we’re aiming to be in your area. Try and park away from drains and gullies if you can. That means we don’t need to come back at a later date.
• If you spot a blocked gully, report it on Fix my street.

Take a look at our short video to see more about what is involved.

Grass cutting

Grass verges are cut for safety reasons and to help biodiversity.

Grass cutting usually begins around May, when we cut for safety and visibility. We continue cutting through to September. Depending on the weather and how much the grass grows, we might need to do further cuts if it affects safety. This is a planned schedule of work delivered by M Group, our contracting partner.

What we need to consider

• Verges near junctions and high-risk areas are maintained regularly to ensure visibility.
• Grass cutting is once a year to promote biodiversity. Safety will always take precedence over that if the verge grows too much.
• Sometimes we make the decision not to cut to support a rare or endangered species at a key period in their lifecycle.
• We may leave grass once it has been cut. It can encourage reseeding – particularly if there are wildflowers in the grass and can also reduce disposal costs.
• The decision on what to leave and how much to cut is considered carefully. We work closely with experts to make these decisions.
• The British weather. It can mean schedules have to change which is why it is hard to provide exact dates for our work.

We are not responsible for all verges. We look after grass verges and roadside vegetation on roads excluding motorways and trunk roads. Hedges and ditches that edge the verges are often the responsibility of the landowner.

How you can help

• Help us find the priority verges. If you spot an overgrown verge that is a safety issue, report it on Fix my street.
• Grass verges can be a great way to encourage wildlife. They could become a road verge nature reserve (RVNR). Anyone can propose a verge for biodiversity enhancement online. 

Take a look at our short video to see more about what is involved.

Read more about some of the things we need to consider. Verge maintenance | Oxfordshire County Council

Gritting

Gritting prevents ice formation and reduces accident risk on roads – so planning is important. Gritting typically occurs from 1 November to 31 March but can be extended depending on weather.

We treat 42 - 43% of the county’s road network, which is above the national average. When we plan, we make use of road specific weather forecasts, road temperatures, weather stations in the county and local knowledge.

 What we need to consider

• Where the road is. Those with high traffic volumes, access to hospital, fire stations and schools and main bus routes take priority. Known problem areas are also included in our priority lists.
• The weather. We can’t send out the gritters if it’s raining or if rain is predicted.
• We need to make sure the gritters go out early enough to make a difference, so we need to make sure we have the right gritters and salt in the right place.
• The right gritter for the job. We have 30 gritters in our fleet – some of which are specifically for narrow roads and park and ride sites.

How you can help

• Help us build local knowledge. If you spot an area of road that needs more grit, report it on Fix my street.
• Keep track of our gritters when they’re out using our gritter tracker.

Take a look at our short video to see more about what is involved.

Read more about gritting. Salting, gritting and snow clearance | Oxfordshire County Council

Surface dressing

Surface dressing is a treatment that helps prevent potholes from forming in the future. It also extends the life of the road and improves safety. Any structural issues are fixed before we seal the road with bitumen and chippings. This process also improves the surface texture and helps improve skid resistance.

We have surface dressed 107 miles of roads so far this year.

With programmes like surface dressing, things can change. We update the schedule daily, this means the most up-to-date information can be provided. 

What we need to consider

• It takes time. There may also be other follow-up works, such as sweeping and lining, that occur after the main works.
• The volume of traffic. The more traffic, the more damage is likely to happen to the road but also the more disruption it is likely to cause if we need to close it.
• Residents and motorists are notified in advance with signs to reduce disruption and encourage safe driving during and after works.
• The British weather. It can mean schedules have to change which is why it is hard to provide exact dates for our work.

We are always looking at innovative methods and materials to repair and maintain our roads. 

• Using smaller aggregate
• Patching when several potholes are in the same area, rather than filling individually
• Enabling M Group, our partner, to fix nearby potholes if they spot them
• Using graphene-enhanced asphalt on some of our resurfacing works
• Using warm-mix asphalt
• Incorporating recycled materials where possible

How you can help

• If you spot a pothole or other damage to a road, report it on Fix my street.

How road maintenance is paid for

We receive two different types of funding for maintenance:

• Our annual capital budget is approximately £43M, around £19M of which is funded from the Department for Transport, and the rest is topped up from council reserves.

This is used for our annual maintenance programme. This type of work is often more involved and should mean the problem is rectified for at least five years.

• Our annual revenue budget is approximately £19M and is funded through council tax.

This is used for day-to-day activities, routine work and reactive repairs – these generally are only designed to resolve an issue for up to five years. 

Savings

We’re always looking for ways to save money and improve how we work. 

Our efficiency saving in 2022/23 was £1,015,534. From 2013/14 to 2022/23, total efficiency savings were £23,400,290.

That means we have saved on average £27 per km per head of Oxfordshire’s population.

Ongoing delivery

This budget goes to the ongoing delivery of a wide range of maintenance:

• 405 miles (13%) of our roads* and 596 miles (30%) of our footways and cycleways are red condition which are prioritised for checking.
• repairing approximately 37,000  potholes in 2024
• fixed 3,600 drain defects in 2023/24, which caused 395 floods.
• Assessing for maintenance and introducing enhanced monitoring on a proportion of the 22% of structures, 18% of public right of way structures identified as being at risk.
• 15% of our streetlighting and 21%  of traffic signal identified as potentially requiring maintenance