Roads strategies
Our evidence for winning the Transport Local Authority of the Year 2017 Award
Sets out Essex Highways' approach to managing the network in Essex
Essex County Council maintains a vast network of roads, over 5,000 miles in total length, together with a footway network of 4,000 miles (including footways shared with cycleways), and 4,000 miles of public rights of way. In addition there are over 1,500 highway structures and 127,000 street lighting columns, and other asset groups such as highway drainage, vehicle restraint systems, traffic signals and traffic signs. Essex County Council recognises the vital role that its highway network plays in the lives of residents, as well as the travelling public and local businesses. Effective asset management of the highway network and its infrastructure is fundamental in supporting the Council’s Vision of Essex being a county where innovation brings prosperity, and in contributing to the Council’s Corporate Outcomes. This represents a significant maintenance commitment and requires a robust approach to asset management. The Asset Management Policy and Strategy is at the heart of highways investment planning, budget setting and delivery of the Highways and Transportation service, and is described in the two documents above.
An explanation of how we prioritise the enforcement of encroachments, obstructions and unlawful interference with the highway to protect the use and enjoyment of the highway for the public.
Essex County Council has a statutory duty to maintain the public highway to a reasonably safe standard. In order to comply with this duty we have developed the Essex Highways Maintenance Strategy. This sets out how the highway will be maintained and how complaints and repairs will be dealt with. Since 2 September 2013, carriageway (road) potholes are now maintained through our new processes which can be found by visiting the Potholes page. In 2013 amendments were made to this policy which are set out in the document here: Amendments to the Essex Highway Maintenance Strategy
This strategy is designed for use by all those involved in Speed Management to offer clear and consistent parameters for the setting of speed limits in Essex.
This document contains Essex County Council’s Traffic Management Strategy for Essex roads for the next 20 years.