Roads - maintenance
We are responsible for maintaining and repairing the roads in Derby. There are some exceptions, such as unadopted private streets or trunk roads.
How do I report a maintenance issue on the roads?
If you see one of the following maintenance issue on any of our roads, contact us to report:
- potholes, damaged bollards, uneven surfaces or other problems with roads or pavements
- obstructions blocking the road or pavement
- noisy or faulty drains and manhole covers
- blocked gullies or smelly drains
- missing or faulty street nameplates
- faulty or damaged street lights.
What are unadopted private streets?
These are roads and pavements that are still maintained by either:
- the developer of new housing
- the residents
- or the landowner.
The road and pavement surfaces and other factors may not yet be up to a standard that we would be happy to maintain at public expense. We would expect them to be improved to our standards for us to adopt and maintain them in future.
What are trunk roads?
These are usually high speed dual carriageways such as:
- the A38
- the A6 Alvaston bypass, and slip roads on and off the A52 east of the Raynesway
- the A52 dual carriageway east of the Raynesway.
The roads, pavements, street lighting and other assets on these roads will be maintained by the contractors A-one+ who are working for the Highway Agency.
How do I report a problem on a trunk road?
Highways England East Midlands Asset Delivery (EMAD - Area 7)
East Midlands Regional Operations Centre
Eric Belfield House
Lawrence Drive, Nottingham Business Park
Nottingham
NG8 6PZ
Telephone: 0300 123 5000
Email: info@highwaysengland.co.uk
Website: Highways England
Which roads are maintained by Derby City Council?
Roads which are maintained by us (Derby City Council, as the Local Highways Authority) at public expense are called 'Publicly Maintainable Streets'.
We are responsible, under Section 36 of the Highways Act 1980, to keep an updated list of the streets within the Derby city area which are publicly maintainable.
Download the Publicly Maintainable Street List - February 2024 for more information.
Please note any extra clarification regarding part-publicly maintainable highways, or extents of the public highway, may be chargeable and can be requested.
For enquiries on Publicly Maintainable Streets, contact:
Telephone: 0333 200 6981 option 4
Email: maintenance.highways@derby.gov.uk
Address:
Highway Records Officer
Streetpride
15 Stores Road
Derby
DE21 4BD
We have a team of Safety Inspectors that check the roads and pavements for defects, such as dangerous potholes and potential trip hazards.
Every road and pavement that we maintain is inspected at least once every six months; the city centre is inspected once every two weeks. Our inspections follow the guidance document 'Well Maintained Highways - Code of practice for Highway Maintenance Management' (Published July 2005, by the Stationery Office). We actually inspect more frequently than this document suggests. This is because we have a very urban road network. The inspectors plan their walked inspection routes so they can inspect more roads in each inspection.
Some defects need to be fixed more urgently than others because they are a hazard to people using the road or pavement. We will make these safe within one hour of finding the problem.
Less urgent defects will be repaired within 10 weeks.
Reactive works - this usually means repairing potholes and fixing defects that are dangerous.
Planned maintenance - this work usually involves resurfacing the road or pavement.
Road maintenance is paid for out of the Council's main funds, with some additional funding for repairs coming from outside sources such as the Department for Transport. We have more information about these sources on the Roads - funding of maintenance page.