Quality of Jersey's road surfaces

WQ.118/2026

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE BY DEPUTY M.B. ANDREWS OF ST HELIER NORTH

QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 6th JULY 2026 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 13th JULY 2026

Question

"Will the Minister advise whether, in his assessment, the quality of Jersey's road surfaces is acceptable and, if not, what steps he is considering to address any concerns he has identified?"

Answer

The quality of Jersey's road surfaces varies across the network. While the Department continues

to maintain the Government-owned main road network in a safe and serviceable condition, over the long- term it has to be recognised that currently we do not spend enough money to maintain the network in good condition over the long term. This is why I said in my nomination speech that we effectively have a policy of "managed decline".

To put more detail on that, Infrastructure and Environment carries out a carriageway condition survey every three years. Roads are categorised by condition, from those with structural or severe surface impairment to those that are serviceable or damage-free, and this evidence is used to prioritise the annual maintenance programme. The programme is also shaped by available budget, utility and developer works, road-space constraints, traffic impact, safety improvements, seasonal considerations and the need to minimise disruption.

The Department allocated £6.1 million capital in 2025 for carriageway preservation and replacement, and approximately £900,000 revenue for reactive patching and panel repairs to maintain immediate safety and serviceability. To give an idea of what this buys, the current three-year rolling average return period for significant carriageway maintenance is approximately 29.3 years, even including micro asphalt. Put more simply, any given stretch of road will only get significant maintenance work about every 30 years. Officers advise me that we would need a return period closer to 20 years to recover the maintenance backlog.

As a result, the Department is having to prioritise works carefully, manage safety and serviceability, and preserve the value of existing road assets for as long as possible. Where carriageways are life-expired or structurally impaired, reconstruction or resurfacing is required. Where roads remain structurally sound but are beginning to deteriorate, surface treatments such as micro asphalt are used to extend their life and delay more costly intervention.

I recognise that micro asphalt is not universally popular with the public, particularly when newly laid, because it does not provide the same finish as a fully resurfaced or reconstructed road. However, it is an important asset-management tool. It helps seal the road against water ingress, restores surface texture, reduces disruption, uses significantly less material, produces less waste, and allows more of the network to be treated within the funding available.

Over the last three years, an average of 4.28km of carriageway has been treated with micro asphalt for c.£700k of the budget, while an average of 4.78km has been resurfaced/reconstructed with the

remaining c£5.4M budget. This demonstrates how cost effective the micro asphalt is, where it can be used in preserving and extending the remaining value of our carriageway assets, saving money, and increasing their serviceable lives by approximately 8 to 12 years.

As Minister, I intend to explore other options that might be available in addition to micro asphalt, as well as exploring whether there are ways we can find more resource to allocate to the road network, for example by extending active travel routes.

In the meantime, the Department will continue to use its condition data to prioritise its work, coordinate works with utilities and developers, undertake reactive repairs where safety defects arise, and apply the right treatment at the right time.