At 8,000 miles, Devon’s highway network is the largest in the country with a further 3,000 miles of Public Rights of Way. With such a vast road network, there is huge amounts of work to do to keep the roads safe and maintained to support residents and communities.

Highway and Traffic Management Team

The Highways and Traffic Management Team maintains, operates and improves the highway network to enable safe and resilient links for its users. The result is Devon possessing the safest road network in the county.

The team operate the highway network to enable the flow of traffic. The 24-hour service deals with incidents and emergencies affecting the network, monitors traffic and congestion on major routes, and plans responses to forecasted weather emergencies.

The team work with local communities to keep the highways operating as they should be. They manage and supervise a variety of licenses including skips and scaffolds, street cafes and special events. They also look after highway actives and enforce parking restrictions.

To keep the most important roads open when there is ice and snow; the team organise precautionary salting (gritting), and work with local communities to enable self-help through the snow warden scheme. With the help of the Parish Paths Partnership scheme the team also keep public rights of way clear.

The Neighbourhood Highway team

The Neighbourhood Highway Teams deliver the maintenance and improvement of the local highway network. By reacting to situations including major incidents, severe weather and daily activities such as licensing and enabling works, they ensure the network stays open and traffic is moving 24/7.

These teams also carry out on-site investigations to understand cause and effect of maintenance and traffic management problems and help design solutions.

By working with local communities, individuals and councillors to understand issues affecting the highway, the team helps to find resolutions. This means no two days are ever the same and every day presents a new and exciting challenge.