Hertfordshire roads among best maintained in South East, council report says

Road maintenance in Hertfordshire remains among the strongest in the South East and consistently above the national average, according to a report presented to Hertfordshire County Council.

Members of the council’s highways cabinet panel reviewed the Asset Performance Report (APR) 2024–25 during a meeting on 12 March, assessing the condition of the county’s road network and other highway assets.

The report uses data from the Department for Transport (DfT) covering the period between April 2024 and March 2025, measuring the proportion of roads that should be considered for maintenance.

According to the findings, Hertfordshire continues to outperform national averages across most road categories, reinforcing the county’s strong performance compared with other authorities in the region.

Minor roads showing signs of decline

Despite the positive overall picture, the report noted that unclassified (U) roads – smaller local roads maintained by the council – appear to be deteriorating.

These roads fell 1% below the national average in 2024, although the county still ranks among the best-performing areas in the South East.

Nationally, the condition of unclassified roads is also worsening, the report said.

During the meeting, Cllr Steven Watson (Green, Ware South) raised concerns about the trend.

“The worsening of the road does seem to be going up steeply and it would be interesting to see where that’s going,” he said.

Concerns over data reliability

However, council officers suggested the data used to measure U road condition may not be entirely reliable.

Chris Allen-Smith, head of profession for asset management and maintenance, explained that the measurement method – known as a Coarse Visual Inspection (CVI) – relies on subjective assessments.

“It is two people in a vehicle giving a subjective view on a road,” he said. “As an engineer and a bit of a data scientist, I don’t much like it because it’s not very repeatable.”

He added that the council hopes to move to a more robust and consistent data standard in future surveys.

Preventative maintenance approach

Allen-Smith acknowledged that some minor roads are in poorer condition, particularly older rural lanes and roads in historic urban areas, which were not originally built to modern standards.

“These roads often don’t have a robust construction,” he said. “If we have a few bad winters and water gets in, they can be very vulnerable to damage.”

To manage this risk, the council focuses on preventative maintenance programmes designed to extend the life of road surfaces before they deteriorate significantly.

Footways and cycleways also monitored

The council also monitors the condition of footways, cycleways and drainage infrastructure as part of its asset management strategy.

Allen-Smith said the authority runs a large micro-asphalt programme to protect and extend the lifespan of footpaths and cycle routes across the county.

Regular condition surveys are carried out alongside safety inspections undertaken by the council’s highways contractor Ringway, helping the authority identify long-term deterioration and intervene early.

“These surveys allow us to look for signs of failure so we can intervene before major repairs are needed,” he said.