2022-2027 Highway Infrastructure Asset Maintenance Approach

A guide to how Oxfordshire manages and maintains the highways asset

Oxfordshire County Council considers effective asset management to be one of the key contributing factors to attaining the county’s vison to lead positive change by working in partnership to make Oxfordshire a greener, fairer and healthier county.

An updated approach was agreed by Councilors in 2022 to align with the current nine priorities of county council, namely:

  1. taking action to address the climate emergency
  2. tackling inequalities in Oxfordshire
  3. prioritising the health and wellbeing of residents
  4. supporting carers and the social care system
  5. investing in an inclusive, integrated and sustainable transport network
  6. improved access to nature and green spaces
  7. creating opportunities for children and young people to reach their full
  8. playing our part in a vibrant local democracy 
  9. working with local businesses and partners for environmental, economic and social benefit.

These corporate priorities will guide Oxfordshire in achieving the county’s vision and set areas of focus. For further information on this, refer to; Oxfordshire County Council's Strategic Plan 2022-25

Highway Asset Management is widely accepted to deliver a more efficient and effective approach to infrastructure assets through longer-term planning. This is essential, as a good transport network is vital to the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of Oxfordshire. 

The highways network provides access to jobs, services and schools. It allows for the delivery of goods to shops and enables everybody to make the most of their free time and leisure activities.  In order for the transport network meets this need, the council will:

  • improve, or maintain, the overall condition of the highway network 
  • secure funding to improve the condition of all assets 
  • improve customer satisfaction in relation to highways maintenance
  • reduce the whole life cost of maintaining assets
  • adopt a continuous improvement approach to asset management policies and practices
  • give an increasingly greater priority to those assets and parts of the network where more active and sustainable modes of transport choices are available 
  • aim to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries, while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all, in alignment with our commitment to Vision Zero.

Highways policies

The Highways Asset Management Policy document sets out guiding principles to aid rational decision making and which in turn inform the Highway Infrastructure Asset Management Strategy and Plan documents which should be read alongside this policy document.

Individual Highways Asset Policies provide guidance on good practice and the levels of service provision we normally aim to provide. It should be noted that given the wide range of activities and locations that these documents apply to, there may be some occasions when we have to depart from these policies in particular circumstances. Reviews will take account of whether any departures require amendments to policy.

Highways Asset Policy documents

Highway Asset Management Strategy and Plan

Oxfordshire’s Highways infrastructure asset management strategy (HIAMS) and Highways infrastructure asset management plan (HIAMP)  detail how the council manage and maintain the county's highway infrastructure assets to deliver operational efficiencies and value for money in a risk-based approach.

The HIAMS details the high-level strategic direction that Oxfordshire County Council intends to take, in several core areas of business considered to be particularly relevant to the management of its highway infrastructure assets.

This strategy is intended to provide an overarching direction to follow and set out the framework which all our subsequent planning and decision making can be aligned. It remains both interpretative and flexible and is not intended to specify the detail of individual activities or processes.

The HIAMP is intended to serve as a mid-range blueprint of service activity required to be undertaken to ensure our service is provided and matures in a way that supports the overriding strategy for the management of the highway asset.

Whilst this plan is not intended to be a general repository for asset/service or network information, it does set out some basic information on our key assets in the form of Asset Group Status Reports, which are intended to serve as quick reference guides on some of the most sought-after information about our assets and how we are managing them.

Oxfordshire’s Resilient Network

As an organisation we plan for winter and severe weather events to ensure we are prepared and react effectively to any abnormal conditions. Our Resilient Highway Network is defined as the portion of our highway network that is absolutely vital to maintaining economic activity and enabling access to key services during these extreme weather emergencies and other major incidents. The defined network identifies the most critical routes and associated highway assets, so that planned maintenance on that part of the network may be prioritised. This ensures that our defined Network is less prone to failure and ensures the county’s resilience to extreme weather events, industrial action and major incidents. 

The overarching aims of Oxfordshire’s Resilient Highway Network are;

  • to protect economic activity in and through the county;
  • to protect access to key services; and
  • to protect access to key infrastructure.
  • to keep Oxfordshire moving.