More than 75 miles of Newham’s highways have been resurfaced in the past decade under one of London’s most ambitious road renewal projects, a report on the borough’s infrastructure has revealed.
Since its launch in 2016, the Keeping Newham Moving programme has seen investment averaging £10 million a year spent on renewing the borough’s 432 mile road and footpath network.
The work has also seen the council filling in more than 6,000 potholes since 2021, with nearly 1,600 being repaired in the last financial year alone.
Sarah Ruiz Cabinet Member for Sustainable Transport said: “Newham is one of the main gateways into the capital, so our roads – particularly our principal highways - get a lot of traffic.
“We know that the state of our highways and footways is a high priority for our residents.
“So, keeping our roads, cycle routes and pathways in a good state of repair makes travelling around the borough, whether by car, public transport, or bicycle more comfortable.
“But more importantly than that, it means that they are safer to use. That’s why, despite the extreme pressure on Council finances, we have continued to invest in new infrastructure and repairs.
“There is always more to do – just like painting the Firth of Forth Bridge – the work never ends. But the work of our Highways Maintenance teams is keeping us on the front foot and helping to encourage residents to take up sustainable transport options where possible.”
The Local Highways Maintenance Transparency report sets out that a further £8.9 million will be invested in 2025-26 under the Keeping Newham Moving programme, including:
- Repairing some 1,500 potholes, to make it safer to cycle and drive
- £3.6 million towards resurfacing 21 roads, including Katherine Road and Upton Lane, as well as 14 footpath and footway reconstruction schemes, such as Jake Russell Walk and Mitchel Walk
- £3.3 million in additional funding for reconstruction of roads which suffer from subsidence or poor ground conditions, which will improve conditions for those cycling and driving
- £2 million in structural maintenance for some of the Council’s ageing road bridges, such as Silvertown Way viaduct, and work on road structures along Stratford High Street on the approach to the Northern Outfall Sewer. This will allow these structures to remain open for use for years to come.
To try to minimise disruption caused by major works, we hold regular meetings with the utility companies and we are currently reviewing an option to introduce a ‘lane rental’ programme – where utilities and developers are charged for disrupting the highways network – providing a financial incentive to coordinate works and minimise disruption.
As part of our commitment to the environment we are using less polluting materials in the repair and building of our infra structure – and are where practicable looking at introducing electric vehicle in our maintenance and repair fleet.
The full report can be read here (PDF).
