Duties and responsibilities
Westmorland and Furness Council is responsible for maintaining an extensive and diverse highway network that supports residents, businesses, visitors and local communities across rural, urban and coastal areas. We look after public roads, pavements and a wide range of highway assets.
This includes:
- 4,344km (2,699 miles) of carriageways
- 1,431km of footways
- 889km of cycleways
- 2,108km of public rights of way
- 2,385 bridges and structures
- 72,467 highway gullies
- 18,962 street lights
- 1,397 illuminated signs
- 45 traffic signal-controlled junctions
- 49 controlled pedestrian crossings
National Highways
National Highways maintain the road network in our area, including the M6, A66 and A590.
Private roads, also known as unadopted roads, are not maintained by the Council. They are the responsibility of the landowner or other private parties.
Managing our network
The road network is one of the Council's most valuable assets. It plays a critical role in connecting people, supporting local businesses and enabling tourism. It also provides access to services across Westmorland and Furness.
We manage the network using a risk-based asset management approach. Combining condition surveys, highway inspections, customer reports and local engineering knowledge, we are able to prioritise repairs.
We use a risk-based approach to manage the highway network, prioritising repairs based on condition surveys, inspections, customer reports and local engineering knowledge.
Our focus is preventative maintenance wherever possible. This includes maintenance work to help roads last longer and reduce the need for extensive repairs. We also continue to repair potholes and other defects to keep roads safe and serviceable. During the financial year 2025 to 2026, over 23,000 potholes were repaired across the network.
We also use modern technology to help us manage and maintain our roads. This includes road surveys, digital mapping systems and specialist tools that help us monitor drains and other road assets. These tools give us useful information and help us decide where repairs and improvements are needed most.
Further information is available in our Highway Asset Management Strategy 2025-2029 (PDF , 7MB)
Highways Maintenance Transparency Report
The Department for Transport requires local highway authorities to publish annual information about how highway maintenance funding is invested and how highway assets are managed.
Our Transparency Report provides information on:
- highway maintenance funding and expenditure
- road condition and performance
- pothole repairs and maintenance activities
- maintenance of bridges and structures
- asset management and lifecycle planning
- drainage and climate resilience
- skills, training and innovation
- how we work with utility companies and contractors to minimise disruption and deliver value for money
The report helps residents understand how maintenance decisions are made and how we are applying national best practice to manage and improve the highway network.
Read our Local Highway Maintenance Transparency Report for 2026 to 2027