Roadworks, closures and improvements

The council regularly plans to carry out maintenance works and improvements to the roads, pavements, and highway infrastructure across the city, in an annual programme of works. Visibility of the council’s future funding commitments is informed by the forward work plan.

You can find in-depth information on current roadworks and transport projects, and how they might affect your daily commute, by visiting Connecting Southampton.

The interactive roadworks map

To see whether there are any road improvements in your area of interest please take a look at the interactive roadworks map.

Please note: in order to see roadworks more than two weeks in advance you will need to create an online account with our provider one.network.

Use the key on the left of the map to switch on or off layers of information, including live traffic congestion. You may need to zoom in to the map where there are multiple works in the same location. You can do this by using the plus sign in the bottom right-hand corner or double clicking/tapping on the point of the map where you want to zoom in.

Advanced notices of planned works can be subject to change.

Work types

Road Renewal or Reconstruction

Removing some or all the structural layers of a road to be replaced with new or recycled materials and a new surface.

Resurfacing

Removal and replacement of the existing surface to restore it and improve the surface characteristics.

Patching

Cutting-out and replacing part of the surface area of the road with tarmac; anything from a localised patch where there are a cluster of repeat potholes, through to a larger area perhaps extending across the whole width of the road.

Surface treatment

Preserving and extending the life of existing surfacing which is just starting to fail; a coating that helps waterproof the road and so reduces further deterioration. Often referred to as slurry surfacing of footways.

A well-established technique used by Highway Authorities which offers an extremely cost-effective alternative to full resurfacing. The finished surface of the road will not be as long lasting as a road renewal/reconstruction, and the appearance of the finish will not be as smooth as new tarmac or asphalt. It can also take several months of pedestrian or vehicle traffic for the material to bed-in and it will not necessarily hide all the unevenness of the original highway construction beneath. This is one of the many options available on a case-by-case basis, depending on the condition of the road. Large areas of the city can be treated in any one year.

Pothole repairs

There are dedicated (two-person) crews, that can attend any of the city’s roads and footways to repair potholes. These teams have a focus on potholes that have reached the policy standard for repair but are also able to respond quickly to urgent and more hazardous potholes.

Forward Work Plan

Highways maintenance in Southampton is split between routine repairs to small defects and potholes on footways and carriageways and planned works to larger areas of highways, and other assets such as bridges and drainage. Planned works are a part of a Forward Work Plan, which takes place over a three-year rolling cycle, as the highway network is repeatedly surveyed, and its condition monitored.

In typical years, the council would publish indicative plans for delivery for the next year in the three-year cycle. To set a balanced budget for the 2024/25 year, the total highways capital budget for all highway assets has been scaled back and has been set at £4.4m. This funding must be allocated between high priority interventions and essential repairs across the key areas of:

• Carriageways
• Footways
• Drainage schemes
• Structures

Carriageways will receive the largest proportion of expenditure to keep the city’s network moving and mitigate against longer-term, more costly reconstructions that would otherwise occur. A prioritised programme of targeted ‘patching’ will be rolled out during 24/25 which will encompass part-road resurfacing and a wide range of tarmac patch repairs, dependent on the location. This will be a live process, with the Council confirming priorities on a monthly basis and retrospectively publishing its delivered works. Any residents and businesses affected by planned, upcoming works will be notified in advance of works arrangements.

Highways maintenance programme works

In the table below, you can find details of the highways maintenance works completed so far in the work year 2024/25, starting from April 2024.

Location	Date of work	Type of work	Category
TBC	TBC	TBC	TBC

For more information

You can report street problems to us. We will notify local residents before works start and ensure that diversions are set up to minimise disruption.

For more information regarding prioritisation of future road schemes, please see Transport Policy.