Highway Maintenance Transparency Report 2026

How we maintain local roads, pavements, and the wider highway network in North Tyneside

A1 – What we are responsible for maintaining

North Tyneside Council is responsible for maintaining an extensive highway network made up of:

• Carriageways: approximately 825 km
• Footways: approximately 1,680 km
• Structures:  163
• Highway gullies: approximately 36,700
• Street lights:  29,726
• Traffic signals: 198

The Authority also maintains other highway assets, including cycleways, drainage systems, retaining walls, road markings, signs and street furniture.

The highway network plays a critical role in supporting North Tyneside's wider economic, social and environmental objectives. It provides access to major employment locations including Cobalt Business Park, town centres, schools, health facilities, ports, tourism destinations and neighbourhood centres across the borough. Well-maintained highways, footways and cycleways support economic growth, enable access to employment and education opportunities, improve public transport accessibility and help create attractive places where people choose to live, work and invest.

Highway maintenance is therefore not viewed solely as an engineering function. It forms an important part of the Authority's wider place-shaping agenda, helping to support regeneration, sustainable travel, network resilience, public realm improvements and the delivery of long-term transport and growth ambitions. Investment decisions are increasingly aligned with wider transport objectives, including encouraging walking, wheeling, cycling and public transport use, whilst maintaining safe and reliable access for businesses, residents and visitors.

A2 – Road conditions in North Tyneside

A2.1. A roads

A2.2. B and C roads

A2.3. U roads

The above condition data is 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 above condition figures are showing North Tyneside’s data in the DfT standard reporting format and are an exact replication of the data the Authority submits in its DfT returns.  North Tyneside does however use a more refined system of condition classification including the use of a yellow category for early life condition.  This data is then converted to the three DfT condition groups for official reporting.  

North Tyneside uses a PAS 2161-accredited Annual Engineering Inspection (AEI) survey to assess the condition of its classified road network. This provides a treatment-led assessment of the network, helping the Authority understand not only where deterioration is present, but also the type and extent of maintenance likely to be required.

In 2024, North Tyneside changed its condition-survey methodology from SCANNER to Annual Engineering Inspections (AEI). This change contributed to a different distribution between the amber and green categories, and direct comparison with earlier results should therefore be treated with some caution. AEI provides a treatment-led assessment, supported by experienced surveyors, which gives the Authority more detailed information on maintenance need and supports backlog assessment and the prioritisation of structural, preventative and planned patching programmes. Previous SCANNER surveys would tend to produce over-detailed data around carriageway condition making treatment selection challenging. The AEI data, when used in conjunction with our specialist asset management system, produces more realistic treatment recommendations and cost forecasts by aggregating defects into longer treatment lengths which are more representative of how roads would actually be maintained.  This provides a realistic picture of maintenance needs and the ability to accurately plan and budget for work over a period of years rather than annually.

A2.4. - Additional information on carriageway condition

Day to day carriageway condition is monitored by routine inspections during daily safety inspections carried out by highway inspectors.  In addition to any immediate safety repairs, the inspectors provide the technical team with recommendations for larger scale planned works which are then factored into decision making.  Other factors considered are road hierarchy, proximity to higher risk locations (e.g. schools) and customer reports

In line with best practice, our maintenance philosophy is to keep reactive repairs at the minimum and maximise our resources on planned work.  There is a particular emphasis on preventative maintenance to extend asset life.
The Authority is working with its technical partners to ensure its survey arrangements remain aligned with the transition to the PAS 2161 national reporting requirements.

A3 – What we are doing about potholes and other road defects

A3.1. – What is a pothole?

North Tyneside Council defines a pothole as a localised depression or break in the carriageway surface caused by deterioration of the road material. Potholes often develop when water enters cracks in the surface and repeated traffic loading, weather and freeze-thaw cycles cause the material to weaken and break away.

In North Tyneside, the normal investigatory threshold for a carriageway pothole is 40 mm deep. Lower thresholds apply in higher-risk locations, including 20 mm at pedestrian crossing points and 25 mm within designated segregated cycle lanes.

In line with the Well-Managed Highway Infrastructure: A Code of Practice and the Authority’s Highway Inspection Policy, defects are assessed using a risk-based approach. The inspector considers the size, depth and location of the defect, road hierarchy, traffic and pedestrian use, and the likelihood and consequence of harm before deciding the appropriate response and repair timescale.

A3.2. – What we are doing to tackle potholes

Potholes tend to be identified in isolated areas as identified by inspectors or reported by the public.  In most cases, a clean and properly compacted infill with hot material is undertaken and the repair is classed as being permanent.  

North Tyneside Council aims to complete these permanent repairs wherever it is safe and practical to do so. Where an immediate permanent repair cannot be undertaken—for example because of traffic management, weather, access, materials or safety constraints—the defect may initially be made safe and a permanent repair programmed to be done later. The number of repairs we would deem to be temporary and requiring a return visit is relatively low.  During the financial year 2025-26 the Authority identified and reactively repaired 7,648 potholes. The majority of these will have been deemed to be permanent repairs 

There will however be numerous locations where potholes occur in older roads and where a simple infill repair will not last.  Rather than undertake wasteful repeat repairs, our policy is to deal with these defects in a more robust and longer term manner.  This may include:

• Chasing back to nearest sound material and implementing a patch repair
• Grouping clusters of defects and issuing a larger machine planed patch repair
• Applying a preventive maintenance solution
• Resurfacing the road
• Applying innovative new repair products in targeted locations (more detail set out in B10)
• These programmes address wider areas of deterioration, reduce repeat failures and prevent potholes reforming.

A3.3. How members of public can report potholes and other highway defects

Customers can report potholes and other highway defects through North Tyneside Council’s online reporting service at  Report It - North Tyneside Council.

Reports can also be made by telephone, (0191) 643 4815 or by email at highways@northtyneside.gov.uk. Reports are recorded in the Authority’s Symology Insight highway management system and passed to a highway inspector for assessment.

Reports can also be made via ward members using the Authority’s member enquiry system

When making a report, users are expected to provide the location, type of defect and any photographs or additional information that may help the Authority identify and assess the issue

A3.4. What happens after a pothole is reported

All defect reports from the public are investigated within a target of 3 working days. The customer reports are assigned to the Inspectors, who visit the location and make a dynamic risk-based assessment of the defect and the appropriate response is recorded. All reports of actionable defects result in works orders being placed. If there is no actionable defect, a “no defect encountered report” is logged and no further action is taken. The location remains subject to the Authority’s routine inspection regime.

If customers require a follow-up to their enquiry they are able to contact the team. 

A4 – What we spend to maintain the highway network and where the funding is coming from

A4.1. – Spending on highways maintenance
 

Street lighting is managed and funded separately through a long-term PFI arrangement and is therefore excluded from the highway maintenance expenditure figures shown above.

A4.2 – Where our funding for highways maintenance comes from

A5 – Our maintenance plans for this year

A5.1 – Our plans for highways maintenance for 2026-27

North Tyneside Council’s planned highway maintenance activity for 2026/27 includes:

• 8.5 km of structural carriageway maintenance;
• 5.6 km of preventative carriageway treatments;
• approximately 10,000 m² of planned carriageway patching;
• 2.5 km of footway structural maintenance and renewal;
• 0.25 km of preventative footway treatments;
• targeted minor footway works and dropped-kerb installations;
• planned bridge, subway and drainage maintenance;
• cyclical gully cleansing; and
• renewal of road markings and other highway assets.
• The programme may be adjusted during the year in response to updated condition data, emerging risks, statutory requirements, weather impacts and available funding

A5.2 - Full list of planned carriageway and footway works 

A full list of carriageway and footway maintenance schemes planned for 2026/27 is available at: Road and pavement improvements | North Tyneside Council

The programme may be updated during the year to reflect changing condition, risk, funding, utility works, weather and operational requirements

A5.3 – How decisions are made on our maintenance plans 

North Tyneside uses condition surveys, asset data and safety inspection information to identify where maintenance may be required.

Potential schemes are prioritised using factors including road hierarchy, defect history, proximity to high-risk locations such as schools, customer reports, maintenance history, utility activity and opportunities to coordinate works.

The Authority aligns investment decisions with wider place and transport objectives wherever practicable. This includes supporting access to Metro stations, town centres, schools, employment areas, strategic walking and cycling corridors and key public transport routes. The Authority aims to maximise the value derived from highway investment by considering how maintenance activity can contribute towards wider regeneration, accessibility, sustainable transport and economic growth outcomes

The Authority uses technical judgement to select the most appropriate treatment. Roads requiring major intervention may be considered for structural maintenance, while earlier-stage deterioration is addressed through preventative treatments or planned patching to extend asset life and reduce future cost.

Highways Maintenance Transparency Report Annexe B