Highways maintenance transparency reports

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

A1 – What we are responsible for maintaining Blackpool Council is responsible for maintaining:

542 km of carriageways 891 km of footways 36 km of cycleways 43 highway structures, with 20 on the highway (26 bridges, 6 footbridges and 11 other structures) 15,640 street lighting columns 128 traffic signal and pedestrian crossing installations 31,361 highway gullies and associated drainage assets

Alongside many other highway assets including road signs, safety barriers, bus stops, tramway infrastructure, coastal defences and public rights of way.

Maintaining Blackpool's highway network presents a number of challenges. As a busy coastal resort, the network experiences high seasonal traffic volumes and supports residents, businesses and millions of visitors each year. Exposure to the marine environment can accelerate deterioration of highway assets through salt and severe weather, while ageing infrastructure, utility works and increasing pressures from extreme rainfall require ongoing investment. We use a risk-based asset management approach to prioritise maintenance, ensuring available funding is targeted where it delivers the greatest benefit for safety, resilience and long-term value.

A2 – Road conditions in Blackpool

A2.1 A roads

A2.2 B and C roads

A2.3 U roads

Councils use road condition surveys to assess the state of their roads. The results are 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 published official statistics for road condition include more detail about the methodology, timing and coverage of this data

A2.4. - Additional information on carriageway condition

Blackpool Council uses carriageway condition information alongside other asset, risk and network data to inform maintenance priorities and future works programmes. Condition surveys provide a consistent evidence base for identifying deterioration and targeting planned and preventative maintenance at the appropriate stage of the asset lifecycle.

The figures shown in A2.1–A2.3 are the published Department for Transport official statistics required for this transparency report. The council also undertakes more recent local condition surveys to support operational asset management and forward planning; these local survey results are not used to replace the published official statistics above.

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

A3.1. – What is a pothole?

A pothole is a defect in the carriageway surface where the road material has broken away, creating a hole or depression. Potholes typically develop as water enters cracks in the road surface and traffic loading causes the pavement to deteriorate further.

Blackpool Council investigates carriageway defects that are generally 40 mm or greater in depth, or 25 mm in the footway, in accordance with its Highway Safety Inspection Code of Practice. Reported defects are assessed using a risk-based approach which considers the size and severity of the defect, its location, the type and use of the highway, and the likelihood of harm to highway users. Defects meeting the council's intervention criteria are prioritised according to their assessed level of risk and appropriate response times.

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

Blackpool Council uses a risk-based approach to managing potholes and other highway defects. Defects are identified through routine highway safety inspections, reactive inspections, reports from members of the public and other council activities. All reported defects are assessed in accordance with the council's highway safety inspection code of practice and prioritised according to the level of risk they present.

During 2025/26 the council repaired 2071 potholes across the highway network.

In addition to reactive repairs, Blackpool delivers planned preventative maintenance programmes including resurfacing, surface treatments and patching to extend the life of highway assets and reduce pothole formation. The council aims to carry out permanent repairs wherever it is safe and practical to do so, reducing repeat visits and providing a longer-lasting solution. Temporary repairs may occasionally be necessary where an immediate safety response is required or where weather conditions, traffic management requirements or planned maintenance programmes mean a permanent repair cannot be completed immediately. These locations are monitored and permanent repairs are undertaken when appropriate.

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

Members of the public can report potholes and other highway defects online using Blackpool council's highway defect reporting service. Reports can be submitted for potholes, damaged footways, drainage issues, damaged signs, kerbs, road markings, street furniture and public rights of way. Reports should include the location and a description of the defect, and updates are provided automatically by email where an email address is supplied. Highway defects can also be reported by telephone through the council's Customer First team on 01253 477477.. Report a highway defect link: Report a pothole road or footpath problem

A3.4. What happens after a pothole is reported

Once a report is received, it is logged and reviewed by the highways team. If necessary, a highways inspector will visit the site and assess the defect using the council's highway safety inspection code of practice. The assessment considers the size, location, severity and risk associated with the defect. Where intervention criteria are met, the repair is prioritised according to the assessed level of risk. Defects that do not meet the intervention threshold remain subject to routine inspections, allowing their condition to be monitored and helping to inform future investment programmes.

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

A4.1. – Spending on highways maintenance

*Street lighting maintenance is delivered through the council’s Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract and is therefore not included in the highway maintenance budget shown above. In 2026/27, funding shown under ‘Other assets’ relates to Department for Transport grant funding for the Council’s Town Centre Access Scheme (TCAS).

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

During 2026/27 we plan to:

• Resurface or reconstruct approximately 19.6 km of carriageways
• Apply preventative surface treatments to approximately 8.4 km of roads to extend their service life
• Renew approximately 1.35 km of footways
• Maintain 753m of cycleway
• Upgrade four signal junction to improve traffic flow and pedestrian crossing facilities as part of the Town Centre Access Scheme (TCAS)
• Continue planned bridge and highway structure maintenance across the network
• Undertake drainage maintenance and improvements to reduce water-related deterioration and improve network resilience
• Carry out reactive repairs to potholes and other highway defects where required to maintain network safety
• Continue routine inspections and maintenance of other highway assets, including signs, road markings and safety barriers

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

The table below sets out the carriageway and footway locations currently earmarked for planned highway maintenance during 2026/27 and the type of treatment proposed. The programme may be subject to change following further assessment, coordination with other works and operational requirements. A full list of planned carriageway and footway maintenance works for 2026/27 can be seen below

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

Blackpool Council uses a risk-based asset management approach to prioritise highway maintenance. Schemes are initially assessed using a range of objective criteria, including carriageway condition, estimated treatment costs, traffic levels, skid resistance, accident history, bus routes, winter gritting routes, flood risk, resilient network designation and the importance of the route to key services such as hospitals, schools, the airport and public transport. This creates an initial priority score for each scheme.

The programme is then reviewed to take account of local factors such as safety concerns, reports from residents, Member requests, evidence of rapid deterioration, traffic sensitivity, coordination with utility companies and opportunities to align with other planned works. This ensures that available funding is directed to where it will provide the greatest benefit, while reducing disruption and delivering the best long-term value for the highway network.

Transparency report – Technical annex report

B1 - Highways maintenance funding and spending figures

B1.1 – Capital funding allocation sources

B1.1.2 - Additional information on funding figures

Local Transport Grant (LTG) funding has been used alongside the council’s highways maintenance allocation to support additional investment in the highway network during 2025/26 and 2026/27. This additional funding supports the council’s planned and preventative asset management approach and helps target investment towards maintaining network condition and reducing future deterioration. Other capital funding relates to the council's Town Centre Access Scheme.

B1.2 - Spending

B1.2.1 – Total spending

The questions in this section (B1.2.1) relate to the spending condition set out in the 2026 to 27 local highways maintenance incentive funding requirements. Completion of this section forms part of the evidence required to meet this incentive funding condition.

Please confirm that you understand the answers provided in this section (B1.2.1) relate to your compliance under the 2026 to 27 local highways maintenance incentive funding requirements, as set out to your authority via letter to your chief executive in April and as published online.

Yes

B1.2.2 - Additional information on total spending figures

B1.2.3 Spending on carriageways by type of spend in financial year 2025-26 and 2026-27 (projected)

B1.2.4 - Additional information on spending on carriageways by type of spend

B2 – Highway maintenance activity (surface treatments and repairs)

B2.1 – Road resurfacing and surface treatments

B2.1.1 – additional information on surface treatments and repairs

Does table B2.1 reflect all your carriageway-related road surface treatments & repair activities (for example, including pothole repairs)? If no, please add further information on any other types of treatments (planned to be) delivered and their extent in the table below.

Yes

B2.1.2 – Further information and context

Blackpool Council seeks to maximise planned and preventative maintenance, applying treatments at the appropriate stage of an asset’s lifecycle to extend service life and reduce the need for more costly reactive intervention. The 2026/27 programme currently includes approximately 8.4 km of preventative road surface treatments and 19.6 km of planned structural carriageway maintenance. Treatment selection is informed by asset condition, risk, network importance and whole-life value.

B3 – Pothole repairs

This section sets out how authorities identify and repair potholes and other defects in carriageways, and how this activity fits within their wider maintenance approach. The department is clear that prevention is better than cure: planned, preventative maintenance should be the foundation of a well-managed network, reducing the need for repeated reactive interventions

B3.1 – Pothole/Defect intervention criteria

Building on section A3.1, please set out in the table below how your local authority defines potholes and other carriageway defects, and the intervention criteria that apply.

B3.2 – Number of potholes filled

B3.2.1 - Number of potholes filled in 2025-26 (estimate)

2,071

B3.2.2 - Of these how many do you estimate were resolved using each of the following approaches?

B3.2.3 - Additional information on numbers of potholes resolved, by treatment type

Blackpool Council records all temporary reactive pothole repairs, which form the basis of the reported figure of 2,071 potholes repaired during 2025/26. Permanent repairs arising from these temporary repairs are not recorded separately as pothole repairs and therefore cannot be reported in this table. Consequently, the reported figure represents the minimum number of potholes repaired during the year, and the total number of pothole interventions, including subsequent permanent repairs, is likely to be higher. Alongside reactive repairs, the Council also delivers planned carriageway maintenance programmes to improve network condition and reduce the future formation of potholes.

Caution for readers – Authorities have different criteria for identifying potholes and different methodologies for counting how many they have filled or resolved. Summing the figures in the above table across authorities will therefore not provide a reliable estimate of the total number of potholes filled across England.

B3.3 - Prices of pothole interventions

B3.3.1 - Additional information on pothole prices (optional)

B3.4 - Defect repair quality

B3.4.5 - Evidence summary

Blackpool Council monitors the appropriateness and quality of carriageway interventions delivered by its workforce and contractors. Repair decisions are considered within the council’s risk-based maintenance approach, with treatment selection reflecting the nature of the defect, highway use and available maintenance options. Although expected and achieved repair longevity is not currently recorded systematically, intervention quality and performance are monitored as part of normal highway maintenance management.

Additionally, specifying longevity would likely mean increased maintenance costs as providers would have to guarantee outcome sand in general it would mean any funding would maintain less streets.

B3.4.6 - Additional information

The council will continue to review its approach to monitoring repair quality and the use of available maintenance data to support future asset management and treatment decisions.

B3.5 - Public reporting system for defects and other issues

B3.5.3 - Evidence summary

Highway defects can be reported by the public via the website, email or phone call. Reports are logged and reviewed by the highways team. Reports can trigger inspection and risk assessment in accordance with the council’s highway safety inspection code of practice. Where intervention criteria are met, repairs are prioritised according to assessed risk. Where an email address is provided, customers receive updates on their report.

B3.5.4 - Tools used for reporting

Blackpool Council provides its own online highway defect reporting service, enabling residents to report potholes and other road and footway defects directly to the council. Reports are logged within the council's internal customer relationship management system and passed to the Highways Team for review.

Report a pothole, road or footpath problem: Blackpool Council online reporting service

B4 – Maintenance of highway structures

B4.1 Highway structures

B5 – Asset management

B5.1 - Asset management strategy and policy

The questions in this section (B5.1) relate to the asset management condition set out in the 2026–27 local highways maintenance incentive funding requirements. Completion of this section forms part of the evidence required to meet this incentive funding condition.

5.1.1 - Please confirm that you understand the answers provided in this section (B5.1) relate to your compliance under the 2026 to 27 local highways maintenance incentive funding requirements, as set out to your authority via letter to your chief executive in April and as published online.

Yes

5.1.2 - Please provide a link to your authority’s published highways asset management policy and strategy.

Blackpool Council | Highways asset management

5.1.3 - Please provide the date it was last reviewed or updated

August 2026

5.1.4 - Please provide proof of the review or update.

The highway asset management strategy was reviewed and updated in August 2026. Accessibility checks and document preparation for publication are being completed separately, with publication expected by the end of November 2026.

5.1.5 - If your asset management policy or strategy has not been reviewed or updated since 1 August 2024, please confirm that it will be reviewed or updated by 30 September 2027 and provide a brief timetable for doing so.

The report needs to be edited to ensure it meets the accessibility criteria of the council's website. This should be completed by the end of November 2026 if not before.

B5.1.6 - Further context (optional)

Blackpool Council applies a risk-based, whole-life approach to highway asset management. The council seeks to intervene at the appropriate point in an asset’s lifecycle, balancing safety, condition, resilience, network importance, disruption and available resources. Programmes are reviewed annually, supported by longer-term financial forecasting. Preventative maintenance is prioritised where it can extend asset life and reduce future costs, while investment decisions seek to maintain an accessible, reliable and resilient highway network.

Key aspects of highways asset management approach

To get a sense of how each local highway authority is implementing best practice for asset management, we ask that you provide the following information across a sample of key areas.

B5.2 - Asset data

This section seeks to establish whether asset management decisions are supported by appropriate and up to date condition data.

Please complete the table below for your key highway assets.

5.2.1 - Further context (optional)

Full inventory and condition information is held for carriageways, footways, cycleways and structures, with drainage information currently recorded on a partial basis. Street lighting and traffic signal inventory and condition information is managed on the council’s behalf through the relevant PFI service provider. Asset information supports condition assessment, risk management, forward programme development and investment decisions.

B5.3 – Asset data integration and management

This section seeks to understand the maturity of how asset data is managed and integrated to support planning and investment decisions.

B5.3.1 – Asset data integration

How is asset inventory and condition data for your key highway assets primarily managed? (please indicate one option with an X)

Discrete spreadsheets or documents held by individual teams

Multiple digital platforms with limited integration

A single digital platform or a set of connected platforms used across the highways service X

Other (please set out in further context)

B5.3.2 - Further context (optional)

Highway asset information is currently managed across multiple digital platforms, with some limitations on integration between asset types. The council is developing a geoportal to bring asset information, condition data and works programmes together. This is intended to support more coordinated, risk-based programming and identify opportunities to combine activities across different highway assets, reducing duplication and making more efficient use of traffic management and other resources.

B5.4 – Lifecycle planning and investment decision making

This section focuses on whether the authority uses lifecycle planning to inform maintenance investment decisions, rather than relying solely on reactive demand or short term pressures.

B5.4.4 - Evidence summary

Lifecycle planning is used to support investment decisions across the council’s principal highway assets. The asset management approach seeks to intervene before assets deteriorate to the point where more extensive and costly renewal is required. Programmes are reviewed annually, supported by longer-term forecasts to understand future investment needs and risk. Preventative treatments, renewal and improvement works are considered together to maximise asset life and whole-life value within available funding.

B5.5 – Performance monitoring and continuous improvement

This section focuses on whether the authority monitors the effectiveness of its asset management approach and uses performance information to inform ongoing investment and prioritisation decisions.

B5.5.5 - Evidence summary

The council’s latest strategy establishes strategic KPIs covering safety, network condition, planned maintenance, programme delivery, customer outcomes, resilience and carbon. Measures include network condition, the proportion of maintenance delivered through planned interventions, highway area treated and programme delivery against time and budget. Performance information is used to identify trends and inform future priorities and investment decisions. The reporting framework brings condition, investment and service-performance information together for Members and the public. Highway maintenance was also subject to an internal best value audit in 2024, with a further audit scheduled for September 2026.

B6 - Maintaining footways and cycleways

B6.1.6 - Please provide any brief additional information you consider helpful in explaining your approach to maintaining footways and cycleways

Blackpool’s cycle network is predominantly provided on or alongside the existing highway network and is therefore generally considered as part of carriageway or footway maintenance activity. The council also maintains segregated cycle infrastructure, which is considered separately where it is not covered by wider carriageway or footway programmes. Footway maintenance is supported by a defined hierarchy and risk-based approach to inspection and maintenance.

B6.1.7 - Evidence summary

Priority footways and cycleways are not currently included as separate assets within the winter service. However, many cycleways form part of carriageways included on winter service routes and therefore benefit from carriageway treatment. Footways and cycleways are also subject to maintenance to control overgrown vegetation and maintain accessibility.

B7 – Drainage

B7.1.5 - Evidence summary

Highway drainage maintenance is currently estimated at approximately 75% reactive and 25% planned activity. The council maintains records of known drainage problem locations and uses information from approx. 67 gully sensors at key locations to support monitoring of silt levels and flooding. This information helps identify emerging issues and supports more targeted investigation and maintenance.

B7.1.6 – Further context on approach to drainage asset management

Blackpool’s coastal location and exposure to periods of intense rainfall make effective highway drainage important to network resilience. Maintenance activity includes responding to drainage failures and undertaking planned cleansing at known or higher-risk locations. The council is seeking to improve the use of asset information and monitoring technology to support a more targeted approach to drainage maintenance and reduce the effect of standing water on highway condition.

B8 – Skills and training

B8.1.7 - Evidence summary

Training and development needs for staff responsible for highway asset management are identified and reviewed through the council's staff development and appraisal arrangements. Competence requirements for key roles are defined through job descriptions, person specifications and relevant technical and professional requirements. Identified skills gaps are addressed through training, recruitment or appropriately qualified external specialist support. The council supports relevant professional membership and development, retains professionally qualified engineering expertise for highways and structures, and supports early-career development through career graded posts, relevant training and sponsored qualifications where appropriate.

B8.1.8 – Further context on skills/training (optional)

Blackpool Council supports the development and retention of highways skills through career-graded posts, providing opportunities for staff to develop technical competence, experience and professional knowledge as they progress. Staff are supported through relevant professional and technical training, sponsored qualifications where appropriate, and membership of professional bodies. This approach supports professional development and succession planning within the service.

B9 – Adapting roads to withstand climate pressures

Climate and environmental factors, such as heavy rainfall, prolonged heat, and freeze-thaw cycles, are integral to effective highways asset management, as they influence asset performance, deterioration rates and long-term resilience. Understanding both the impacts of a changing climate and the carbon implications of maintenance activities supports better decision-making, helping authorities to optimise durability, manage risk and deliver best whole life value from their assets.

B9.1.8 - Evidence summary

Climate resilience forms part of Blackpool’s highway asset management approach. The council has identified a Resilient Network and its asset management principles require maintenance decisions to consider resilience, reliability and increasing extreme-weather risks. Known locations affected by surface-water and flooding issues are recorded and inform drainage activity. Targeted drainage maintenance, supported by approx 67 gully sensors monitoring silt and flooding at key locations, together with sustainable drainage and other environmental measures, contributes to improving network resilience. The council is also participating in the Carbon Leadership Programme to support the measurement, benchmarking and reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions from highway maintenance activities.

B9.1.9 - Further context on your adaptation / resilience activities

The council will continue to develop its understanding of climate-related risks to highway assets as asset information improves and the highway asset management strategy is embedded. This will support future consideration of resilience within lifecycle planning, scheme prioritisation and investment decisions.

B10 – Innovation

10.1.4 - Evidence summary

Blackpool has a long-standing approach to highway innovation, including Project 30 and the more recent Project Amber initiative. Project Amber works with the supply chain to identify, test and promote innovative road maintenance materials, treatments and techniques, supported by LCRIG and the Road Surface Treatments Association. This approach supports improved treatment selection, reduced network occupation and disruption, collaboration with industry and whole-life asset management decision-making. Blackpool Highways also accesses innovative supply-chain solutions through the LCRIG Innovation Procurement System (IPS).

B10.1.5 - Further context on your innovation activities

10.2 – Examples of innovations that have been adopted

Thermal road repair technology was initially trialled through Blackpool’s innovation work and has subsequently moved into operational use. The process reheats the existing asphalt around a defect, enabling material to be reworked and additional material incorporated to form the repair. This can reduce waste and the amount of new material required while supporting durable repairs and reducing the need for conventional excavation. The technique is now available for use on suitable reactive and planned carriageway repairs across the network.

Blackpool has trialled asphalt preservation treatments designed to slow surface deterioration and extend the service life of carriageways before more substantial intervention is required. Following evaluation, asphalt preservation has moved beyond trial and is now included within the Council’s preventative maintenance treatment options for suitable carriageways. This supports the Council’s whole-life approach by enabling earlier intervention, extending asset life and helping to defer more costly structural maintenance.

B11 – Working with utility companies to reduce disruption to road users

11.1.6 - Evidence summary

The council uses its street works management arrangements to coordinate highway and utility activity, monitor works quality and reduce avoidable disruption. Utility companies are consulted during development of highway maintenance programmes to support coordination of works. The council operates a permit scheme and has undertaken the required permit scheme evaluation and traffic-sensitive street review. These arrangements support coordination between utility works, council works and other highway activities and help minimise disruption to road users.

B11.1.7 - Further context

Blackpool Council has held initial discussions with GeoPlace regarding the potential development of a Lane Rental scheme. Further consideration has been affected by local government reorganisation in Lancashire and the implications of future highway authority arrangements.

B12 – Managing highways maintenance contracts effectively

Only answer this sections if you utilise a contractor to deliver any of your carriageway maintenance operations, including: structural maintenance, planned repairs / patching, or reactive repairs / patching

12.1.5 - Evidence summary

Blackpool Council retains in-house technical capability to review proposed maintenance interventions and provide independent assurance of treatment selection. Unit costs are assessed at scheme level and compared with available historic and benchmark information to support value-for-money decisions. Contract performance is monitored through defined KPIs, enabling the council to review delivery and performance and to inform future maintenance planning, investment and contract management decisions.

Reactive pothole repairs are delivered by the council’s in-house workforce.

B12.1.6 - Further context