Agenda item

To receive a presentation on the draft well managed highways infrastructure paper before being presented to Cabinet.

Consideration was given to a report going to Cabinet on the Well Managed Highway Infrastructure.  In addition Members received a presentation on the Winter Service update.  Included within the presentation was information on the following:-

•           Assessment criteria

•           Area Highways Groups-Engagement Process

•           List of roads proposed by the AHGs

•           AHG roads to be added to the network post re-assessment

•           Roads added/removed as a result of the route validation process

•           Next steps

Members made comments as follows:-

      i.        Clarification was sought regarding the response to the consultation from the Knutsford Areas Highway Group in respect of the removal of some of the gritting routes.  It was confirmed no comment’s had been made in respect of Knutsford, however there had been a few relatively minor concerns regarding Mobberley.  Officers responded to this in the meeting, confirming that there had not been any concerns raised by the group formally, however at the AHG meeting comment was passed regarding the access to Mobberley Railway Station, which had been addressed.

    ii.        Members queried what the justification was for removing routes from the gritting programme and requested that if previously removed routes were identified as an issue then the possibility of including them in a future programme of works be looked at in the future.  It was clarified that the criteria used for the risk assessment process was available.

   iii.        Whilst the list of gritting routes was comprehensive, there were concerns that smaller routes/short cuts some of which were located near to primary schools had been omitted from the gritting schedule.  In response it was outlined that the risk assessment process used applied criteria uniformly across the network to ensure it was consistent.  It was reiterated that short cuts were not automatically included in order to encourage vehicles to use the treated network on more major routes.  It was confirmed that the routes would be reviewed annually, however the process was about best allocation of resource and that drivers should consider routing according to the weather conditions.

   iv.        Clarification was sought as to how many routes close to primary schools were currently gritted and how many (if any) had been removed from the programme of works.  In response to both the above points and officers clarified that primary schools were not automatically included in the treated network and a number of factors were included such as was the school rural or urban and if there were any other amenities in the area.  It was noted that at the moment primary schools were not automatically treated, however secondary schools were.

    v.        It was suggested that any money being saved through the cuts to routes should be used to provide additional gritting bins.  It was agreed that this would be considered where appropriate on the network and that a new grit bin assessment form had been developed to consider the placement of grit bins.

   vi.        It was felt important that officers looked at gritting footpaths in order to encourage more people to walk instead of driving.

  vii.        Clarification was sought as to the current situation regarding people helping themselves to grit from the bins that were in existence throughout the Borough.  It was explained that this was a national problem and perhaps should be tackled with a corporate media campaign.

viii.        Concerns were raised that there had been no cycling groups/bodies involved in the formulation of the resilient network strategy.  It was explained that the resilient network was fairly high level and was largely linked to strategic connectivity over longer distance routes and ensuring resilience should these routes be at risk or unavailable due to engineering/environmental issues.  It was then explained that the resilient Network was a requirement under the DfT Incentive fund and had specific requirements.

   ix.        Gullies were constantly filling up and little was being done to unblock them despite numerous Councillors reporting the matter to officers as a priority.  Concerns were also raised that a number of gullies were not being assessed often enough particularly those in rural areas and that the service provided needed to be reviewed.  Members were receiving more complaints about gullies than potholes.  Due to the number of comments on this issue it was agreed that a report on highways drainage including the management of gullies would be brought back to a future meeting.

    x.        It was considered that further information should be provided on what the criteria were for a risk assessment to be undertaken.  Officers outlined what further information could be included.

   xi.        Rather than dealing with the same complaints year after year it was important for officers to look at the policies of the Council and see how much funding was allocated to this particular service;

  xii.        It was felt important that officers analysed how repairs of potholes were carried out as there appeared to be an issue with a number of them sinking.  Officers explained the difference between making safe a defect once identified.  This had to be completely quickly in order to remove the hazard and to meet the response times.  Any structural issues would then be investigated and the necessary action taken to repair.

xiii.        A 50mm pothole could cause a serious injury to a cyclist and that perhaps there was a necessity to revisit the intervention levels.  Officers explained that the new policy if implemented would result in greater consideration of cyclists.

xiv.        Clarification was sought as to what was meant by a resilient network.  It was explained that the resilient network helped to prioritise major investment and Winter service priority.  Furthermore that pot hole defects were still assessed on risk and many factors were considered with regards to this.

The debate about gritting routes led to an in-depth discussion regarding highways drainage issues and it was agreed that officers would bring to a future meeting of the Committee a report addressing the concerns raised by Members as well as looking at the wider issue relating to drainage matters.

The Committee was also reminded that a Member Engagement event was taking place at the beginning of February which would cover awareness and challenges of maintaining the assets.

RESOLVED

(1)That the recommendations to Cabinet be endorsed and that all of the

matters raised be reported to Cabinet.

(2)That a further detailed report on highway drainage including the cleaning of

gullies be presented to a future meeting of the Committee.