Network operations manager Andy Gower said: “Safety is our number one priority.
“We try to avoid road closures as much as possible because of the impact it has, but sometimes it’s unavoidable.”
The East region’s head of service delivery, Heather Openshaw, said National Highways also had a maintenance programme and regularly assessed its assets to make sure roads were up to scratch.
She said she was happy that the main road network was maintained to a good standard.
“We do work overnight for minimum disruption,” she said.
“We publish closures in advance and work with other organisations, such as Royal Mail, to understand which days will impact them less.”
National Highways also carries out weekly inspections to find any defects, which are then programmed for repair in seven, 14 or 28 days.
“There are always difficult balances with any kind of budgets we may receive but the teams have full knowledge of their network, they know where the hotspots are,” said Ms Openshaw.
“We could do more but with the funding that we’ve got, the roads are good.”
The Department for Transport has been approached for comment.