Highway asset management

We are responsible for managing most roads and footpaths in Cheshire East. We are committed to maintaining the road network effectively to support economic prosperity and local community needs. You can find out which roads we are responsible by viewing our Adopted Road Gazeteer.

What our highways network includes

The Cheshire East highways network includes 1,674 miles of roads, 1,350 miles of pavements and pedestrian paths, and 5.8 million square metres of grass verge, plus cycle routes, bridges, road gullies, road signs, street lights, pedestrian crossings, and traffic lights. Much of the network is old. This makes maintenance a constant challenge, particularly given current tight budgets.

Asset management approach

We take a systematic 'asset management' approach to looking after the highways network.

This means making long term plans and finding the most cost-effective ways to make sure the network continues to meet the needs of road users and residents into the future.

To do this successfully, we take each of the following into account:

customer needs
local priorities
road condition
environmental issues
risk management
money available

We invest in the ‘right treatment, at the right place, at the right time’.

For more detail, see:

Highways funding

Money for highways asset management comes both from our own funds and from central government.

Department for Transport Incentive Fund

The Department for Transport has an incentive fund which gives money to local councils based on the performance of their highway services. Our levels of performance means we have been given 100% of the available funding for 2022/23.

Pothole Action Fund

Central government have issued a grant of £5,799,000 per year between 2022 to 2025 to help us fix potholes or prevent them forming. For a full list of our road repair programme planned for this year, see our Highways Programme of Work 2022-23.

Highways safety inspections and practical considerations

We inspect all roads and footpaths regularly to identify any safety defects and arrange repairs.

Our Code of practice for highway safety inspections (PDF, 1.7MB) explains our inspection approach in detail.

Page last reviewed: 14 October 2021