Highways Maintenance and Resurfacing Information

Redbridge manages and maintains the highway assets falling within our 532 km of highway network. With responsibility to ensure the highway assets are fit for purpose and able to fulfil their function in an efficient and sustainable manner.

As the Highway Authority, Redbridge owns and is responsible for the repair and maintenance of all assets that form part of the public highway. The safety of the highway network is the Council’s responsibility, which means that Redbridge has a duty to inspect and repair roads, footways and highway structures, and ensure that streets are safe and clean, and lighting and drainage systems work effectively.

 

Highways maintenance

The initial long list of roads to be considered for treatment is obtained from the structural condition survey reports from the Highway Asset Management System as well as feedback and defect levels recorded from the Council’s Highways Safety Inspections. The structural condition survey reports provide the structural road condition indices, or initial average score and a borough-wide condition survey was completed in quarter two of the 2023-24 financial year. The Council takes the condition of roads and analyses them through a value engineering matrix to ascertain the priority of roads.

The 2023-24 year included an extensive programme of resurfacing and minor capital intervention works to extend the life of the carriageway. Redbridge Council has put forward further capital investment to its roads and has also received funding from the Department for Transport funding from HS2.

The levels of funding for the last five financial years and the 2024/25 financial year are as follows for reactive maintenance to fix potholes, raised paving slabs, damaged signs, bollards and responding to road traffic accidents, as well as the capital investment to resurfacing roads:

Financial Year	Capital Allocated by DfT (£)	Road Resurfacing Capital (£)	Reactive Maintenance (£)	Estimated % spent on preventative maintenance	Estimated % spent on reactive maintenance
2019/20	-	£2.5m	£1.45m	63%	37%
2020/21	-	£6.75m	£1.47m	82%	18%
2021/22	-	£2.5m	£1.65m	60%	40%
2022/23	-	£1.5m	£1.52m	60%	50%
2023/24	£0.262m	£2.5m	£1.6m	63%	37%
2024/25	£0.262m	£3m	£1.5m	69%	31%
2025/26	£0.853m	£3m	£2.1m	65%	35%

 

 

 

Funded by UK Government

In both 2023/24 and in 2024/25, The London Borough of Redbridge has been allocated £262,000 to invest in road maintenance. The Council also received £853,000 from the Government to be spent on road repairs.

 

Innovation

Injection patcher

Redbridge Council piloted a Jet Injection Patcher over the 2023 summer period that resulted in the additional repair of 2,202 potholes which proved to be cost effective and reduced carbon output due to not having to excavate and dispose of any material. The Council used the jet patcher again throughout Spring and Summer 2024 year using additional revenue funding provided by the Council to repair an additional 3,018 potholes.

Warm mix asphalt

Redbridge is also using warm mix asphalt as per its standard resurfacing material which reduces the Council's carbon emissions as part of its road maintenance programme to comply with its wider goals on carbon reduction and net zero.

AI surveys

Redbridge is also working with various organisations that are looking to use AI on the road network to detect potholes and report them through to the maintenance teams to ensure potholes can be picked up and repaired at a faster rate. Redbridge have also commissioned Vaisala Road AI system to conduct annual condition surveys of the roads which feeds into the priority matrix of road resurfacing. This ensures that the Council is spending and investing in its road network appropriately and at the right time.

Low carbon resurfacing materials

Redbridge is the first borough in London to trial a unique, new asphalt mix that can significantly reduce the carbon footprint in road resurfacing works. The trailblazing project led by Redbridge Council, in partnership with Kensons Highways, utilised the revolutionary asphalt for road resurfacing works at Lodge Hill, in Ilford. The asphalt mix, supplied by Tarmac, significantly lowered the carbon footprint from the road resurfacing process by incorporating a carbon negative product into the mix, called ACLA^®. Results showed that using ACLA^®, Tarmac’s asphalt had reduced the project’s carbon footprint by 68%, which is equivalent to an average UK car driving 17,400 miles, or a round trip to Los Angeles for two people.

Read more about the  ground-breaking new product that makes road resurfacing greener.

 

Protecting resurfaced roads

The London Borough of Redbridge will issue Section 58 notices under the New Roads and Street Works Act (NRSWA) 1991. The notice prevents any statutory undertakers from digging up the carriageway for a minimum of two years to protect the resurfacing the Council has completed. However, statutory undertakers such as utilities can still excavate in the need of an emergency, but they must satisfy the conditions of the Council when doing so.

Redbridge also has regular meetings with all utility companies and its own teams to ensure that roadworks are coordinated in an effective manner under the Traffic Management Act, New Roads and Street Works Act as well as the London Permit Scheme. Where possible, Redbridge urges collaboration between works to reduce disruption on the road network.

 

Managing and coordinating street works

Redbridge Council is committed to effectively managing and coordinating street works in line with its statutory duties under the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 and the Traffic Management Act 2004. The Council has adopted the London Permit Scheme, which ensures that all works on the public highway, whether by utility companies or the Council itself, are carefully planned, assessed, and monitored to minimise disruption, protect road users, and maintain network resilience. These work sites are rigorously monitored to ensure their compliance with the permits the Council have approved and their conditions, as well as monitoring the worksite for health and safety issues consistently feeding back to utilities on their performance.

In addition, Redbridge is actively exploring the introduction of a lane rental scheme, in partnership with Transport for London, similar to those already operating in other London boroughs. This would allow the Council to charge for occupation of the highway at the most traffic-sensitive times and locations, further encouraging quicker, more efficient works and delivering better outcomes for residents, businesses, and road users.

The Council has successfully operated its permit scheme for a number of years and has a record of saving at least a months worth of roadworks disruption annually through encouraging collaboration between utilities and its own contractors.

 

Climate change, resilience and adaption

Redbridge Council is actively addressing climate change, enhancing resilience, and promoting sustainable transport through a series of comprehensive strategies and initiatives.

The Council's Climate Change Action Plan outlines ambitions to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050. This plan focuses on reducing emissions, improving air quality, and fostering community resilience. Initiatives include energy-efficient housing, green infrastructure, and community engagement through the Redbridge Climate Forum. Find out more about Climate Change.

In response to increasing flood risks, Redbridge has implemented Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) and developed a Local Flood Risk Management Strategy. Collaborations with partners like Thames Water and the Environment Agency have led to projects across the borough which includes rain gardens and attenuation tanks to manage surface water as well as other solutions. You can read more about our strategies relating to flooding  and also read more about our innovation and case studies.

The Council also is working towards formally adopting a Sustainable Transport Strategy that aims to make travel in Redbridge safer, healthier, and more inclusive by 2041. Goals include increasing the use of public transport, walking, and cycling, and reducing reliance on private vehicles. The strategy emphasizes the development of zero-emission vehicle infrastructure and improved connectivity between transport modes.

 

Useful links

• Highways Inspection Strategy
• Highways Asset Management Plan
• Adopted and Private Roads
• Roadworks and Closures