Road Maintenance

Responsibility for the roads in Oxford is split between us (Oxford City Council) and Oxfordshire County Council. Generally, we are responsible for minor roads and Oxfordshire County Council are responsible for major roads (e.g. Cowley Road, Banbury Road, the Ring Road, Headington Road etc.)

Roadworks

Road Works in Oxford are the responsibility of Oxfordshire County Council.

Local information on disruption to roads in the county is provided on Oxfordshire County Council's Roadworks Online website.

The Highways Agency is responsible for maintaining major roads within the county such as the M40. You can find details of roadworks on these roads on the Highways Agency website.

Pot Holes

Members of the public are encouraged to report any road hazard so that action can be taken qucikly to remove the risk to the public. If we are not responsible for this road, we will notify Oxfordshire County Council of the problem.

Pot holes on minor roads are generally repaired within 3 months of the report. If the problem is identified as dangerous, the timescales shorten accordingly, depending on the seriousness of the problem.

To report a pot hole, please contact us using the details on the right of this page. When reporting a problem to us, please give as much detail of the size and location of the pot hole as possible.

Road Markings

New road markings are carried out by Oxfordshire County Council. We maintain existing road markings on minor roads in the city.

Visit the Road Markings pages of the Oxfordshire County Council website for full details.

Manhole Covers 

Generally, manhole covers are the responsibility of various utility companies (water, gas, electricity, telephone etc.) If we are notified of a dangerous manhole cover, we will identify who it belongs to and will make arrangements to make it safe. Please contact us if you would like to report a problem.

Road Gritting

Gritting is undertaken when required between November and April. Oxfordshire County Council is responsible for gritting the major roads in Oxford. Visit the Winter Maintenance page of their website for full details.

We are responsible for gritting minor roads. There is a set route which includes the busy areas, bus routes, and hilly areas. Not every road in the city is covered by the route. There is a dedicated ice alert system which provides us with accurate forecasting on ground temperatures. The amount of gritting is determined by the severity of the weather.

We also maintain grit bins alongside roads in Oxford. We can undertake private gritting work for businesses. Quotations are available on request.

Bollards

Bollards on minor roads are maintained by Oxford City Council. They are installed to protect the highway structure.

Other bollards (particularly rising bollards in the middle of roads) are the responsibility of Oxfordshire County Council.

Gullies

Gullies are cleaned yearly and maintained on minor roads by the City Council. Reports of blocked gullies are dealt with within 5 days of report. Retrieval of items dropped into gullies is a chargeable service.

Other Road Maintenance

Visit the Street Maintenance pages of the Oxfordshire County Council website for full details about bridges, dropped kurbs, roadside trees and hedges, and traffic management.

Page last reviewed 7 Oct 2008