Potholes top of roads complaints in Banbury area - councils respond to new 'traffic light' ratings
Potholes still top the list of roads complaints in the Banbury area; Oxfordshire is Amber on a new traffic-light map, while West Northants is Red.
The interactive map released by the Government last week can be found here. It shows how each county has been rated as Red, Amber or Green in a traffic-light system, showing counties are keeping your roads in good condition and free from potholes.
Worst in the Banburyshire area is West Northants, covering Brackley, which is Red overall. It received a Red rating for the condition scorecard and Amber for its spend scorecard.
West Northants’ A-roads scored only 55%, with B and C roads 29.5% and unclassified roads 48.5%.
Oxfordshire’s performance is Amber overall, with Amber for roads’ condition, Amber for spend. It will come as no surprise in the Banbury area that Oxfordshire earned only 48.5% for unclassified roads. A-roads’ condition gained 75% and B and C roads gained 68%. Unclassified roads scored 48.5%
Warwickshire was Amber overall, with Amber for condition and spend. It’s scores were better for B and C roads at 79% and unclassified roads at 69.5%. A-roads were 77.5%.
Oxfordshire declared 33km of carriageway to be resurfaced this year, and approximately 191km to receive preventative treatment.
Figures showed West Northants’ projected figures show 1km to be resurfaced and 20km to receive preventative treatment.
Warwickshire’s projected figures were 10km and 127km respectively.
The Government says: “The new ratings - the first of their kind - grade authorities in the South East as Red, Amber or Green based on current road condition and how effectively they are spending the Government’s record £1.5 billion funding to fix potholes and invest in long term measures to maintain roads.
"Those that scored Green were able to demonstrate they are following best practice such as investing in more long-term preventative measures rather than just patching up potholes, while also maintaining good road conditions and investing significantly into improving local roads.
“‘Amber’ ranked authorities showed room for improvement in individual areas, while those rated ‘red’ are not yet meeting the expected standards in one or several areas.”
Oxfordshire Highways Authority is using the government information in a bid to improve.
“We are assessing the information from the government to see how we can use it to develop our maintenance strategy and focus our spending,” said a spokesman.
"We will look at what the ‘green’ areas have done differently to us and are actively working with the Department for Transport and the Local Council Roads Innovation Group.”
West Northamptonshire Council welcomed the increased transparency around road condition and investment nationally.
"We were not aware of the ranking before publication but believe it relates to data from early 2025, since when we’ve made significant progress. We’re keen to work alongside the DoT to... agree a route forward which will help us improve the two areas in which we’ve been categorised as red.”
The council said it did not believe the ‘red’ rating fully reflects roads improvements locally in the face of historic under-investment in local roads across complex networks.
The Government says roads fixes will mean more money in drivers’ pockets - with the average vehicle repair bill from hitting potholes around £320, with some motorists paying over £1,000 last year.