The scale of the backlog in repairs and maintenance required across York’s roads has been revealed.
It would cost City of York Council £102 million to restore all the highway assets it is responsible for maintaining to perfect condition, according to the authority’s estimates.
A council report stated communities, businesses and visitors continued to expect more investment, placing pressure on maintenance teams to do work efficiently, on time and to budget.
The council unveiled its £16.5 million highways maintenance programme for 2026/7 at the end of March. Transport lead Cllr Kate Ravilious said this was 50 per cent more than last year’s maintenance funding.
The council is responsible for around 500 miles of roads, 620 miles of footways and 155 miles of walkways and cycleways.
It is also responsible for the condition of thousands of highway gullies, street lights and other infrastructure and assets.
Government ratings for road maintenance by highway authorities have ranked City of York Council amber overall, between red for the worst and green for the best.
Council officials said York was in line with the vast majority of other authorities and scored green for additional investment.
They added the rating underscored the need for continued investment in highway maintenance teams and to increase spending on preventative works wherever possible.
Funding for the works in 2026/7 is made up of £8.8 million set aside in the council’s budget for this financial year and a York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority grant.
A total of £10.7 million has been set aside for works on highways, with £1 million earmarked for drainage, £550,000 for York’s walls, £578,000 to replace street lights and £1.072 million for bridge maintenance.
The council has also set aside £50,000 for investigations into and the renewal of non-highways structures and £600,000 for works to replace the almost 40-year-old Castle Mills Lock gates.
The £10.7 million budget for highways works includes a £150,000 contribution to walking, cycling and other active travel schemes.
Works to patch, renew and dress carriageways are set to be funded with around £1.63 million, almost £2.35 million and £99,560 respectively.
Surface dressing, the laying of a thin layer of bitumen on top of a road to restore grip and extend its life, is set to be funded by £743,976.
Almost £1.4 million has been earmarked for footway repairs, with £2.2 million set aside for reactive maintenance such as fixing sink holes.
A total of £1 million has been set aside for Integrated Transport Schemes which cover road safety, traffic signal works and other projects.
The council has also set aside £500,000 for highway works related to major projects.
Cllr Ravilious said while the money set aside for 2026/7 was not enough to fix everything it was a significant investment.
Officials stated in their report on the programme that while they recognised the importance of keeping all roads and paths safe, limited resources meant works had to be prioritised.
The report stated: “We have identified that there is a £102 million backlog in highway asset maintenance.
“The methodology used to prioritise investment obviously varies between the various asset types but in all cases, the approach to deciding where to spend our money is risk-based.
“Having assessed the investment needs for each asset group, we consider this in the wider context of the whole highways service as we endeavour to undertake the right repairs at the right time in the lifecycle of all our assets to prolong their life.
“As such our investments target not only those assets in the poorest condition but others whose condition would deteriorate significantly without investment.”
