Highway maintenance and operations
The City of London Corporation is the highway authority for all the streets in the City of London except for the four Red Routes (TfL Road Network) for which Transport for London is the highway authority.
The Operations Department covers a wide range of areas such as highway maintenance, drainage, resurfacing, street lighting and cleansing.
Whilst the Corporation has revenue budgets to cover these areas, we are delighted to announce that the Department for Transport (DFT) have allocated £70k in additional funding for highway maintenance. As part of that allocation and initiative, the DFT have asked for relevant information against the following parameters:
| Financial Year | Resurfacing | Reactive Maintenance | Other Funding Streams | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26* | £601k | £80k | £193k | £874k* |
| 2024-25 | £700k | £80k | £494k | £1.274m |
| 2023-24 | £720k | £80k | £122k | £922k |
| 2022-23 | £700k | £80k | £126k | £926k |
| 2021-22 | £580k | £150k | £101k | £761k |
Figures for capital projects will fluctuate each year and there is no set budget, it is purely dependent on the volume of work which is undertaken as part of a capital scheme.
*The 2025-26 is year-to-date and is likely to increase with funding from other streams.
(in other words, highlighting for your residents in an accessible way the information published within RDC01 Road Condition statistics)
| Condition Survey Priority Rating | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 5 Year Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red (5/6) | 24% | 21% | 19% | 18% | 18% | 21% |
| Dark Amber (4) | 13% | 13% | 11% | 9% | 10% | 11% |
| Light Amber (3) | 10% | 10% | 11% | 12% | 11% | 11% |
| Yellow (2) | 13% | 13% | 11% | 19% | 19% | 16% |
| Light Green (1) | 17% | 18% | 16% | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| Dark Green (0) | 23% | 25% | 31% | 25% | 24% | 27% |
| Priority Rating | Description of Criteria |
|---|---|
| Red (5/6) | Street is showing many heavy signs of deterioration and resurfacing should be programmed within the next 12-24 months |
| Dark Amber (4) | Street is showing many visible signs of wear; resurfacing and/or planned maintenance should be considered and is likely to occur within the next three to five years |
| Light Amber (3) | Street is showing some visible signs of wear but is not considered to be a candidate for full resurfacing; minor patches may already be planned for maintenance |
| Yellow (2) | Street is showing little or no signs of deterioration and is generally in a good condition |
| Light Green (1) | Resurfacing has taken place within the last 12-36 months and is showing little or no signs of deterioration |
| Dark Green (0) | Street has recently been resurfaced within the last 12 months |
In recent years, a proverbial ‘steady state’ has been reached, whereby approximately a quarter of the City’s network has been renewed (or is at least in its early years of lifespan). The use of more durable materials has assisted the City in its approach towards this level.
That said, at least a quarter of the network (on average) is in a category enabling it to be considered for resurfacing or renewal. Figures are based upon an internal Coarse Visual Inspection (CVI) survey, carried out annually.
The City has a planned resurfacing programme for financial year 2025-26 and plans to resurface the following sections of highway:
- Poultry and Cheapside (Old Jewry to Bow Lane)
- America Square (Crescent to Crosswall)
- Finsbury Circus (in its entirety)
- Cannon Street (Abchurch Lane to College Hill)
- Giltspur Street (Newgate Street to West Smithfield)
- Old Jewry (Lothbury to Poultry)
- Watergate and Kingscote Street (New Bridge Street to Tudor Street)
- Southampton Buildings (High Holborn to Chancery Lane)
- Billiter Street and Fenchurch Avenue (Leadenhall Street to Fen Court)
- College Hill (Cannon Street to College Street – two sections)
- Crosswall (Crutched Friars to Minories)
- Cornhill (Royal Exchange to Bishopsgate)
Some sections may be re-scheduled for various reasons and therefore the programme is subject to change wherever possible or applicable.
The balance will always depend on the allocation made for resurfacing at the start of each respective financial year. This fluctuates year upon year and each year’s programme is reflective on what can be achieved financially.
Some streets or sections will be determined on whether reactive maintenance or planned full resurfacing takes place, dependent on what stage of the respective life cycle has been reached. For instance, if a section is nearing the end of its life cycle, either ‘make safes’ are planned until the programmed works take place (if they are already planned to occur within 12 months) or the planned works are accelerated forward, should network space allow.
Preventative methods would be from the outset of when a street or section is resurfaced, in that, durable and suitable materials are selected with the ambition that it should last its full predicted life cycle. However, third party interventions (such as utility works) are inevitable and frequent in the City, and this can demonstrably shorten or compromise the structural life cycle of the highway by a number of years. Only after this, does reactive maintenance then become more apparent or required when needed.
The Highways and Streetworks teams work closely in order to attempt to minimise disruption to the network. Any long-term resurfacing or scheme work is always programmed to occur after any major or substantial third-party utility works.
Programmes and relevant information is shared at regular co-ordination meetings so that all parties are aware in an attempt to minimise disruption, collaborate where necessary and in order to try and avoid any new works from being disturbed in the early years of its life cycle. In terms of collaborative working, the City have found that a number of days can be saved on the network in some cases, thereby further reducing disruption to the area(s) concerned.
Newer materials have been selected for trial purposes; recent trials have allowed the City to experiment with new advances in asphalt and pavement design, which will provide greater flexibility and more improved durability in terms of the life cycle of the highway overall.
Whilst main and ceremonial routes are still resurfaced in tried and tested materials, some of the more minor streets – where there is less associated stress and a significantly lower amount of activity – have been trialled with new materials which are low carbon, both at source and output levels, in order to align with the Corporation’s own net zero objectives.
The trials are currently ongoing however early results are showing signs of success and improvement, potentially leading to an increase in the life cycle of the highway, and in turn, producing a significantly lower maintenance cycle as well as a lower carbon output. In addition to this, the City (in partnership with our contracting partners) have trialled the use of electric plant for some minor resurfacing works, with a view to expanding this practice in the medium to long term.
Best practice is followed under two streams – firstly the City’s own highway specification is written with effective installation and maintenance in mind, and this goes in tandem with other industry standards which are applicable.
Continued liaison with other teams, both internally and externally, provide greater scope towards producing an effectively built highway which is not only fit for purpose but experiences little or no interventions in the long term.
Innovation has been explored through the aforementioned use of newer materials, with the objectives of lowering carbon emissions, lower maintenance cycles and less disruption. This, in turn, creates better efficiency in both a practical and financial sense and provides a more sustainable approach to effective highway maintenance and management.
The City’s own life cycle document has been in use for several years, which predicts the lifespan on each highway section, including its current material, demographics and other relevant details, which in turn provides a longer ‘look ahead’ programme ad infinitum. This has been a key cornerstone of the City’s Highways Maintenance Efficiency Plan (HMEP) and continues to provide key information currently and for the future. This is being expanded further over the next couple of years to provide a plan for each section (maintainable at highway expense) to underline clarity and support planning for future works, allowing disruption to be minimised at every opportunity.