Local Highways Maintenance Transparency Report 2026-2027

How we maintain our local roads

What we are responsible for maintaining

Southend-on-Sea City Council is currently responsible for the following key assets:

Carriageways – 488 km

Footways – 811 km

Structures – 167

Street Lights – 15,272

Illuminated Signs - 1762

Gullies – 24,304

Traffic Signals 681

Coastal Defence and Flood Assets – 754

Plus, many other assets for which we have a full inventory for.

Southend-on-Sea is a strictly urban authority surrounding a city. It is a popular tourist destination due to its beaches and seafront attractions. Therefore, there are times where it is difficult to undertake work, including:

  • peak tourist seasons
  • environmental restrictions such as overwintering birds and nesting animals.

This makes our coastal assets more challenging to maintain in the restrictive windows available.

The tourist season and subsequent parking pressures of a busy city, mean that we routinely consider the impact on the free flow of traffic with our works. This results in the requirement for night works, which increases our costs. Even routine tasks, such as emptying gullies, are often difficult to complete in some areas of the city due to parked vehicles. This means that we must additionally make use of Temporary Traffic Regulation Orders (TTRO) to enable works to be completed.

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