Greytree Spin Road
Case reference FOI2023/00709
Published 10 May 2023
Request
I assume this document, as it is now 4 years old, will be reviewed shortly?
There is no real instruction or confirmation within the document on how the council works to its goal arrest deterioration rather than resurfacing, could you please provide this detail?
Looking at several roads, just in the Ross area (and I fully understand the 2000 miles & growing area you have to maintain), look at Ledbury Road from the junction of the school (Three Crosses Road) to the junction with the Dual carriageway, pot hole after pot hole has been filled, are these meant to be permanent fixings thus under your document designed to last to the age of the main surface, or temporary in which case what plans and timeframe is in place to complete a full repair.
Station Approach, roundabout by Morrisions, this has had many (I assume temporary refills) the road surface again has given way and there are several large holes in the surface, no warning signs in place and it is breaking away so quickly, rubble remains on the road surface posing a further danger - do your plans include a temporary repair again?
If permanent will that be road dressing or a resurface?
As I stated, this has been refilled at least four or five times in the last few years - certainly no more than four so the surface dressings you are completing are not lasting anywhere near the ten years you mention? Do you believe this is a good use of limited funds?
What plans do you have for major repairs and resurfacing works in Ross over the next two years?
I believe, and please correct me if you feel I am wrong, that the roads will continue to deteriorate in Herefordshire and will only continue to get worse, I suspect that within five years they will be so bad that they will be beyond anything other than a major investment, which will - if not already - out stretch the councils finance, if this is the case perhaps they should be honest and speak out now before a vote of no confidence comes in. What budget does the council have for the next two years for resurfacing roads?
Response
I assume this document, as it is now 4 years old, will be reviewed shortly?
A: The Highways Maintenance Plan remains fit for purpose, however it is our intention, resources permitting, to review the document during this financial year.
There is no real instruction or confirmation within the document on how the council works to its goal arrest deterioration rather than resurfacing, could you please provide this detail?
A: General road condition: Herefordshire Council adopts an asset management approach to highways maintenance, which means that we are often seeking to arrest deterioration rather than seeking to resurface/ reconstruct. For example, a typical surface dressing treatment can extend the life of the road by up to 10 years for minimal investment whereas a road that is resurfaced will still require an intervention after around 15 years to preserve the integrity of the road. Surface dressing is typically 25% of the cost of a simple resurfacing scheme. The situation is further complicated by a lack of resource provided by Government for highways maintenance, we have seen our budgets decline by almost 50% over the past 10 or so years. We do inspect all of our roads on a regular basis, where defects that are likely to cause damage or injury are identified then these are scheduled for repair in line with our highways maintenance manual (HMP), see link here: Highway Maintenance Plan COVID-19 (herefordshire.gov.uk)
The HMP demonstrates a risk-based approach to highways maintenance, and where the defects are of minimal risk to highways users, they may not be addressed immediately in order to make best use of the constrained budget.
Looking at several roads, just in the Ross area (and I fully understand the 2000 miles & growing area you have to maintain), look at Ledbury Road from the junction of the school (Three Crosses Road) to the junction with the Dual carriageway, pot hole after pot hole has been filled, are these meant to be permanent fixings thus under your document designed to last to the age of the main surface, or temporary in which case what plans and timeframe is in place to complete a full repair.
A: All pothole repairs are delivered as permanent repairs and treated in all cases with a right first time approach. BBLP audits a number of potholes repairs randomly across the county each month to ensure they meet the required standards to keep the network in a safe condition. Herefordshire Council has a Contract Management team who oversee the BBLP contract and will raise any concerns they have.
Potholes are repaired with joint sealant bitumen emulsion material and may or may not be cut out, depending on a number of various specification factors, including type and classification of road, location, volume of repairs to be delivered in a given area. The tarmac used is from an approved and accredited supplier. The duration of repairs, although made as a permanent repair, is dependent on a number of variables that includes the residual life of the surrounding road, weather, volume and type of traffic etc.
The criteria for works, details of intervention levels and type of repair delivered can be found detailed in the Herefordshire Council's Highways Maintenance Plan, link here: Highway Maintenance Plan COVID-19 (herefordshire.gov.uk)
Should you wish to report any defect on the highway, you can do so by phone on 01432 261800 or via the Herefordshire Council website link: Report problems on the road - Herefordshire Council
The Highways Maintenance Plan sets out that the repair should last for the residual life of the surface surrounding it. The purpose of this approach is to maintain the surface in a serviceable state whilst the programme for replacement comes forward. When developing this programme the needs across the entire network are balanced with finite resources. We are however currently refining our scheme identification process to include information from a wider range of sources to assist in delivering interventions. This section of highway ranks at number 89 on the B road network in the forward plan.
BBLP on behalf of HC do not carry out temporary pothole repairs unless as a planned short term emergency response. The type of repair is delivered in line with the HMP - therefore the teams carry out a repair which is appropriate for the residual service life of the carriageway. In some cases, where demand is particularly high, a lower standard of repair may be deployed to ensure that the defects reported are still responded to in an appropriate time scale. Where repairs are applied to a surface which is deteriorating towards the end of its service life the visual appearance is poor, but the work completed is in line with the standards agreed with Herefordshire Council. Pothole repairs are designed to be a permanent repair but when subject to adverse weather conditions the surrounding carriageway may continue to deteriorate, resulting in a new defect or the repair becoming compromised.
Station Approach, roundabout by Morrisions, this has had many (I assume temporary refills) the road surface again has given way and there are several large holes in the surface, no warning signs in place and it is breaking away so quickly, rubble remains on the road surface posing a further danger - do your plans include a temporary repair again?
A: Please see the information above regarding permanent pothole repairs. There have been a number of reports concerning Station Approach, Smallbrook Road and Cantilupe Road for which the steward has raised road sweeping jobs to clear any debris. The steward carries out monthly inspections on these roads, both walked and driven, and will also respond to additional service requests from members of the public regarding highway defects These roads are showing as being last inspected 21st April 2023. The locality steward has revisited this area in Ross and has re-raised jobs for repair - at present, we do not have budget allocated to resurfacing this part of the highway so will carry out make safe repairs until funding is available This section ranks at number 70 on the unclassified road network in the forward plan.
If permanent will that be road dressing or a resurface?
A: Roundabouts would be resurfaced due to the nature of the turning movements of vehicles around them.
As I stated, this has been refilled at least four or five times in the last few years - certainly no more than four so the surface dressings you are completing are not lasting anywhere near the ten years you mention? Do you believe this is a good use of limited funds?
A: This has not been resurfaced since Balfour Beatty took over the contract in 2013.
What plans do you have for major repairs and resurfacing works in Ross over the next two years?
A: Ross Town Council have submitted the below roads for resurfacing as part of the Market Town Fund. NB Not all of these will be able to be resurfaced with the funding available.
Greytree Spine Road
Archenfiled Road/Walford Road
Brampton Road & Bramton Avenue
Overross Close
Ashfield Crescent
Cawdor
I believe, and please correct me if you feel I am wrong, that the roads will continue to deteriorate in Herefordshire and will only continue to get worse, I suspect that within five years they will be so bad that they will be beyond anything other than a major investment, which will - if not already - out stretch the councils finance, if this is the case perhaps they should be honest and speak out now before a vote of no confidence comes in. What budget does the council have for the next two years for resurfacing roads?
A: The "standstill" position for road condition is estimated at around £12m- £15m per annum. The Council receives funding from the Department for Transport each year, this allocation is has to take account the maintenance of all assets and not just carriageway repairs etc., so bridges, street lighting, footways, drain replacement and so on.
The maintenance budget has been bolstered this year by additional Govt. funding for pothole repairs. The grant this year is £2.588m
A full breakdown of the capital programme can be found here, https://councillors.herefordshire.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=291&MId=8676&Ver=4,
It is important to point out that this Council is in a similar position to all other English highway authorities in that the funding provided by Govt. for the maintenance of the highway asset is insufficient to cope with overall need.
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