Highways plans and strategies

Find out about our highways service – what we do and what our responsibilities are.

Highways services for businesses

Service expectations:

  • To keep the highway in a safe condition for all road users and pedestrians.
  • Protect the rights of the public to use and enjoy the highway.

 

Our services for businesses:

  • Licensing - including A boards, skips, scaffolds, street cafés, temporary and fixed signs.
  • First point of contact for highways related enquiries, including fault reporting.

Overview of all our services at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/highways.

 

Our responsibilities relating to businesses:

  • The Highway Act - ensure right to pass and repass (not blocking the highway)
  • Carrying out necessary licensing and enforcement.

 

District and borough councils are responsible for:

  • Car parks, on-street parking schemes and enforcement via parking agency agreements
  • Permission from the planning department for displaying adverts outside your business premises e.g. to advertise your business or an event
  • Permission to sell goods outside your business premises (on the highway).

 

Management and maintenance of roads (Defect Management Approach – DMA)

When you report a fault or a fault is identified by one of our safety inspectors, we work to a set of standards.

These standards are set out in our Defect Management Approach (DMA) documents, and provides our policy and guidance for how our contractor assesses and categorises defects so they can be effectively managed. 

All faults are risk-assessed, in line with our DMA and categorised as either category 1 faults (priority faults) or category 2 faults (non-urgent faults).

We respond to category 1 defects within 2 hours through to 20 working days (depending on the risk), whilst category 2 defects have no timescale for intervention and are prioritised alongside other faults in the area, using a limited budget available. 

Defect Management Approach – Inspection Manual (PDF 4MB)

Defect Management Approach – Enquiry Guidance Notes (PDF 3.8MB)

Defect Management Approach – Assess and Decide Strategy (PDF 517kb)

The traffic management permit scheme order

This scheme manages the planning and scheduling of all work on the roads. This means less disruption for people.

With the introduction of Dft's Street Manager prjoect there will be changes to the legislation and finer details of the permit scheme in Hertfordshire. These will be implemented after 1 April 2020.

Temporary traffic regulation orders
Tree strategy and guidance document

We're responsible for around 150,000 trees on public roads.

Growth and Transport Plans
Growth and Transport Plans

Winter service plan

Our Winter Service Operational Plan 2025-26 (PDF, 598KB) details how we maintain the roads in Hertfordshire during winter.

Hertfordshire Resilient Highway Network (PDF, 500KB)

National productivity investment fund

The Cabinet held on 13th March 2017 agreed to support the following projects with £3.571 National Productivity Investment Funding awarded by the Department forTransport, which is aimed at improving local road networks to improve access to employment and housing:

  • Bring forward and deliver enabling works for A120 Little Hadham Bypass
  • Preparatory design an improvement to the  A10 – London Road Roundabout, Buntingford
  • Preparatory design for the Essex Road Bridge and Industrial Link in Hoddesdon.
  • Resilience works along the A10, particularly the Kingsmead viaduct.
Sinkholes – ground investigations

These are the final reports into the exploratory drilling under and next to at locations in Fontmell Close, St Albans

Active travel strategy
Highways infrastructure asset management
Network Management Strategy
Enforcement of moving traffic contraventions

Approach to Enforcement of Moving Traffic Contraventions 2023-28 (PDF, 1.3MB)

Local Highway Maintenance Transparency Report

Local Highway Maintenance Transparency Report (PDF, 381KB)

Department for Transport Structures Fund

DfT Structures Fund Submission - 2026

The Structures Fund was launched in April 2026 and is a £1 billion government grant program launched by the UK’s Department for Transport to help local councils across England repair, strengthen, or replace critical highway structures like bridges, flyovers, and tunnels. It specifically targets urgent, complex projects that local authorities cannot afford to fix using their standard budgets.

The below documents are Hertfordshire County Council’s submission bids.Funding decisions are expected to be announced in Autumn 2026. Successful schemes will be required to complete all funded works by March 2030.