To update the Committee on current highway maintenance standards and the plans that are in place to improve the long term condition of the highway network and better satisfy the needs and desires of Herefordshire’s communities in regard to roads maintenance.

The Committee received a report on the current highway maintenance standards and the plans that are in place to improve the long term condition of the highway network and better satisfy the needs and desires of Herefordshire’s communities in regard to roads maintenance.

The Highway Network Manager reported on the current condition and targets; the approach to improving highway conditions; the operational standards for repairs and the impact of the Statutory Undertakers’ Works on the condition of the County highways. 

He highlighted that national statistics indicated that rural roads were resurfaced on average every 109 years.  Herefordshire had about £40m worth of known maintenance against a £8m budget.  While the County had half the national average of ‘statutory undertaker works’ this still incurred associated follow on inspections and works.  Planed maintenance works were programmed against a set of criteria.

During the course of debate the following principal points were noted:

• Agriculture is a major contributor to the economy of the County, however, the size and weight of agricultural vehicles had dramatically increased over recent years with resultant increased damage to roads and drainage ditches.  The Highway Network Manager reported that in the majority of cases the farmer was responsible for the maintenance of the drainage ditch with the Council having powers to do so.
• Continuing the agriculture theme it was suggested that, while not in the ownership of the Council, if unofficial passing places or lay-bys were maintained this may reduce the damage to road edges and ditches.  Major land owners or large rural businesses could be approached about donating these small areas to the Council for this purpose.  The Head of Planning and Transportation thought this could be looked at as part of the LTP3 review.
• While road standards were important to the County the condition of footpaths were also of concern to people.
• A number of instances where mentioned where large vehicles using Satellite Navigation Systems had used inappropriate roads.  The Committee were informed that Ordinance Survey were working with Sat Nav manufacturers to improve their systems, however, this relied on users updating their systems and using the roads sensibly.
• In view of last weeks major road disruption in Hereford due to the Highways Agency works on A49 Ross Road/Holme Lacy road junction, with the intelligent traffic management system being set to the default, the Committee questioned the level of liaison between agencies.  The Committee were informed that the Highways Agency had informed the Council that resurfacing works were to be undertaken but had not been informed of the consequences or the likely effects.  The Committee was also advised that less disruption may have occurred if the works had been undertaken in a different way.  The Highway Network Manager reported that while the Council had a duty to manage the network the Highways Agency similarly had a duty to liaise fully with the Council and inform the public of major works.  The Assistant Director Environment and Culture agreed that liaison could be better, particularly where major traffic routes were effected, and officers would raise this issue with the Highways Agency at their meeting on 24 November.  The Cabinet Member (Highways and Transport) commented that where possible the Council notified the public of any major disruption via the local press and radio. In this instance he thought the Highways Agency could have made better use of their own public relations unit and ensured that the public and this authority had been fully informed of their intentions.
• Responding to questions on the volume of known highway maintenance and the available budget the Committee were informed that £40m had been an estimate of the total works to bring the network up to a near perfect state, which is not a realistic position.  The Council had to ensure that the network was fit for purpose in line with its character and usage.  The sites requiring maintenance were assessed against the criteria in the Transport Asset Management Plan (TAMP) and programmed accordingly.  The backlog of works had occurred due to the historical levels of budget and increases in both vehicle weight and vehicle numbers.   The Director of Environment and Culture emphasised that Council, when setting the budget, decided the budget priority to highway maintenance.
• While the overall standards of reinstatement by the statutory undertakers was good, to enhance the Councils management of statutory undertakers’ works Amey Herefordshire, under the service delivery partnership MAC arrangements, will be increasing the monitoring of the utilities to ensure an improvement in the standards of reinstatement works.
• Responding to comment on the need to ensure that maintenance was carried out where the need was greatest, Mr Thomas, Amey Herefordshire, reported that Amey now had ‘end to end’ responsibility for highway maintenance.  It was therefore in Amey’s interest to ensure that a strategic approach was taken to highway maintenance by ensuring that it was properly assessed and programmed and that sub-contracts were let in a way that ensured value for money.  The Director of Environment and Culture reported that if Amey achieved targets under the MAC agreement then they may be awarded a contract extension.

The Chairman thanked the Amey Herefordshire representatives for attending and answering the Committees questions and suggested that an update on Highway maintenance standards be considered for a future agenda.

RESOLVED: that

a)      the report be noted and the possibility of increasing, the number of and surface condition of, unofficial lay-bys on rural lanes be considered as part of the LTP3 review. 

b)     the Committee urges the highways department of the Council to ensure that scheduled maintenance works causing disruption to the network, including those by the Highways Agency, should be communicated to the local community well in advance of works commencing to ensure people are able to avoid the disruption.  Any interference with the intelligent traffic system within Hereford should not occur unless full communication has already been undertaken;

c)      The Committee urges officers to take this up with the Highways Agency as a matter of urgency;

d)     The Chairman and Vice-Chairman consider whether a further update report on  highway maintenance standards be made to a meeting in April 2010.