West Sussex County Council’s figures for the 2024-2025 financial year have highlighted the significant progress made by its highways team in improving the condition of the county’s 2,500 miles of road.
Between April 2024 and March 2025, the council’s highways team delivered a wide programme of essential reactive maintenance and proactive improvements including:
- 44,767 potholes repaired, using durable methods such as ‘sawn and sealed’ patching and ‘spray injection patching’
- A decrease in the average time between receiving a report and repairing a pothole to just 14 days
- 134.5 miles of surfacing works, including surface dressing, micro-asphalt and major carriageway patching
- 36,031 sqm of small and medium scale patching
Over the winter months, the highways team have also been working hard to keep drainage systems clear and ensure water can run off the roads as effectively as possible, cleansing 123,000 drainage gullies and completing 63 small scale drainage schemes. These works help to protect road surfaces from water damage and reduce the risk of flooding in the event of heavy rainfall.
As part of our efforts to improve winter resilience on the road network, extra resources were provided to clear more gullies, ditches and areas where leaves build up. Extra CCTV resource was also brought in to monitor and identify issues, and an additional jetting unit was provided to clear flooded areas and get them moving as soon as possible.
The team’s hard work has been reflected in the number of reports of defects, such as potholes or blocked drains being submitted by the public. In recent years, there has been an upward trend in the number of defects being reported, however, in a clear sign of the improvement in the condition of the county’s road network, there has been a drop in reports from 69,669 last year to 53,574.
“It’s been a difficult few years, with extreme fluctuations in weather across the seasons, increased costs and a large volume of repairs being required, but now we’re seeing the rewards of our ongoing investment and improved delivery across both our reactive repair and proactive preventative maintenance programmes”, said Cllr Joy Dennis, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport.
She continues: “falling report numbers tell us that our strategy is working and that residents will benefit from safer roads year‑round. But while we’re pleased to see a drop in reports, we’re not slowing down our ongoing maintenance and repair programmes. This is reflected in not just a significant increase in the number of repairs the team have made this year but also in a decrease in the average time it takes us to repair a defect following it being reported.”
New contractors Volker Highways and FM Conway bring fresh focus
New partnerships with VolkerHighways Limited and FM Conway underpin this shift from reactive fixes to proactive maintenance.
At the start of this financial year, the council transitioned to working with VolkerHighways Limited for the delivery of core carriageway maintenance across the county. VolkerHighways’ remit covers everything from rapid-response pothole and jet patching repairs to our winter maintenance programme and vegetation management. A key focus of the contract will be the cutting of average repair times by up to 25% while still ensuring that high quality services are consistently delivered.
At the same time, FM Conway took on the contract for cyclical and small‑scale drainage works. Their responsibilities include routine gully cleansing and the installation of new pipes and chambers, applying root‑cause solutions to reduce repeat defects and extend the lifespan of drainage assets. As part of this new partnership, we have also increased the frequency of our gully cleansing programme. This means that all 140,000 gullies will now be emptied every 2 years instead of every 4 years.
“Partnering with VolkerHighways and FM Conway means we can accelerate both our reactive repairs and our proactive maintenance programmes across Local Highways Operations in another step towards our goal of a more resilient, well‑maintained network which keeps West Sussex moving”, added Cllr Dennis. “As part of our commitment to be carbon neutral by 2030, we are looking forward to working with both organisations to adopt greener technologies and materials to reduce our environmental impact.”
Residents are encouraged to continue reporting any issues using the council’s online reporting tool, helping the Highways Team respond quickly and effectively.
More information about ongoing improvements to the road network can be found on the council’s Better Roads campaign page.
