Hertfordshire's Local Transport Plan

5) Strategies and objectives

5.8 Highway Network Maintenance

This strategy helps to deliver the following objectives:

To obtain best use of the existing network through effective design, maintenance and management.

To ensure that the transport system contributes towards improving the efficiency of commerce and industry and the provision of sustainable economic development in appropriate locations.

To provide a transport system which provides access to employment, shopping, education, leisure and health facilities for all, especially those without a car and those with impaired mobility.

The County Council has a statutory duty to maintain most highway assets and the standards it sets are accordingly important. Damage to the highway can arise from a variety of sources and can create hazards for highways users, particularly those on foot or cycle. A well maintained highway network is essential to provide for the economic prosperity of the county, to facilitate safely all modes of travel and to protect past investment in the asset.

The condition of Hertfordshire's principal road network is slowly deteriorating year on year, as shown by National Road Maintenance Condition Survey information. In 1999, 25% of Hertfordshire's principal roads had less than zero residual life, the poorest category for structural condition.

Review of Maintenance

The County Council completed a comprehensive review of its highways maintenance standards in 1999. This study was undertaken as a pilot Best Value review. It incorporated considerable consultation with the public (using the Hertfordshire Citizens Panel) and other stakeholders, including local councils, business, staff and elected members. It has drawn out best practice through extensive benchmarking with other authorities in the East of England Region. The existing basis for the maintenance service has been challenged through this benchmarking and tested by external representation from lay advisors, legal representatives and District Audit.

The review concluded that significant changes to service strategies, standards and management practices should be made. These will be introduced over the next 2 - 3 years. The key resulting strategies are outlined below.

The overarching strategies for maintaining the network are:

• to maintain the public highway in a safe condition which ensures the safe and efficient movement of people and goods in line with the hierarchy.
• to maintain the asset value of all public highways at optimum cost.

Within this the first priority for action is the safety of highway users. This relates closely to the second priority, that of minimising the risk to the authority as a consequence of its activities. Finally, to safeguard the economic wellbeing of the county there is a need to ensure the long term serviceability of the highway asset.

New maintenance hierarchies are being established which are based on the route hierarchy described in section 5.34 but which give greater priority in all aspects of maintenance to routes carrying the highest volumes of traffic. Higher maintenance standards will be applied to these routes.

The County Council intends to adopt a formalised approach to asset management planning building on its current good practice. The key elements to this approach are:

• planning for future asset requirements based on projected network growth and service levels;
• ongoing monitoring of performance and condition of all assets;
• working to optimise long term life cycle costs of assets;
• cost effective management through improved systems and practices;
• improved accountability over the use of public resources;
• improved stakeholder satisfaction.

This approach will be developed and implemented with the assistance of private sector partners and a comprehensive Asset Management Plan will be put in place by October 2001. Early activities in development will include an interim operational plan including a new performance review system in 2000.

The county HERMIS 2000 maintenance management system is being developed with the assistance of private sector partners into an extensive asset management system to underpin the new asset management strategy. The county is currently pursuing United Kingdom Pavement Management System (UKPMS) Tranche 2 accreditation for this system.

Carriageways

The County Council is responsible for maintaining approximately 4700km of roads of which 405 km are principal roads. The level of investment in maintaining these assets has been reduced in recent years and the recent service review has indicated that first priority for structural maintenance refurbishment should be given to principal roads which carry the greatest volumes and weights of traffic. The intention of the road hierarchy described in section 5.34 is to concentrate volumes of through traffic and particularly heavy goods vehicles onto the main roads. Principal roads comprise 10% of the county highway network by lane length but carry 70% of the heavy goods vehicle traffic.

The amount and composition of traffic carried by the county's principal roads puts a considerable demand on their strength. The maintenance review emphasised the need to target investment on the roads carrying the busiest and heaviest traffic, essentially the principal road network. The contribution of this network in carrying essential goods and service towards the economic vitality of the county is substantial.

In response to public consultation about the Local Performance Plan, the County Council has set the improvement in maintenance of its busiest roads to promote the prosperity of the county as a key performance promise in the 2000/01 Performance Plan.

National Road Maintenance Condition Survey (NRMCS) information indicates a year on year increase in the length of Principal Road Network with less than zero residual life since 1995. Figure 5.8(1) shows this trend.

Figure 5.8(1) Percentage of Hertfordshire's Principal Roads with less than Zero Residual Life

During 1999 deflectograph surveys were undertaken across 85% of the principal road network. The current structural condition of the principal road network which is considered eligible for deflectograph surveys is shown in Fig 5.8(2).

Figure 5.8(2) Deflectograph Residual Life for Hertfordshire Principal Roads

There is a clear disparity between these findings and the NRMCS data. The county had been concerned over the suitability of past deflectograph surveys due to the nature of the construction of its network. Coarse Visual Inspection (CVI) surveys are being completed and analysed to validate the deflectograph data. Any modifications will be reflected in future NRMCS data and monitoring reports. The 1999 survey data has been used to develop forward programmes and improvement targets.

To give practical expression to the objectives to improve the maintenance of the busiest roads a structural condition target has been set. The aim is to ensure that no more than 6% of the principal road network will have less than 5 years residual life by 2006 (as measured by nationally recognised deflectograph surveys).

A key transport objective of the county is to improve the safety of highway users. This is reinforced by the findings of the review that safety remains the first priority for maintenance. There is a need to improve surface skid resistance of the busiest roads in Hertfordshire.

Survey information indicates the percentage of the principal road network which is below the investigatory level in the nationally accepted Code of Good Practice. A target for surface skid resistance for principal roads will also be set. This will be based on nationally recognised SCRIM surveys and will seek to ensure that no principal roads will have a SCRIM reading within 0.1 of designated investigatory levels by the year 2006.

To help meet the targets pertaining to structural strength and surface skid resistance, a programme of carriageway refurbishment costing £4.8 million each year for the next five years will be required, and this is shown in Table 5.8(1).

To monitor these targets and other performance indicators network condition will continue to be monitored by a suite of programmed surveys covering structural, surface and visual condition and safety inspections.

The condition of the non-principal network will also be monitored through some of the surveys described above. The maintenance priorities for this network are determined in line with the maintenance hierarchy. All the network will be maintained in a safe condition. Surveys indicate that there is a significant maintenance need of £57 million for non-principal carriageways. As knowledge and experience of UKPMS CVI surveys develops, future asset management plans will seek to set condition targets for the non-principal network.

Footways and Cycleways

The County Council is responsible for maintaining over 4800km of footways and 81km of independent cycleways. The level of investment has led to limited structural maintenance of footways at the lower end of the maintenance hierarchy. There is significant need indicated at £30million for footways and cycleways. The service review has shown that a revised maintenance hierarchy should be developed for footways and cycleways giving greatest priority to routes carrying the most usage but also reflecting increased maintenance importance for routes designated as high priority to promote usage (as described in section 5.19) and high risk which cater for vulnerable users and repeated incidence of defects. This new hierarchy will seek to accommodate the National Walking Strategy and will be introduced in 2001/02.

The footway and cycleway network condition is measured by programmed surveys.

• Visual inspection surveys were undertaken across the entire network in 1999 and will cover 50% of the network each year from now on.
• Safety inspection regimes follow national standards and will be adjusted to reflect the introduction of the new maintenance hierarchy.

Improved risk management processes will seek to address the incidence of accidents and consequent claims upon the authority and will be closely monitored and reported upon within the performance review section of future asset management plans.

Street Lighting

The County Council maintains over 106,000 street lights, 14,000 illuminated signs and over 5,000 bollards. Road lighting has an important role in improving safety on the network. Street Lighting can play an important role in supporting sustainable transport objectives, increasing confidence to walk and cycle during hours of darkness. It can also contribute towards reducing the fear of crime.

Lighting equipment is comprehensively managed through the county's asset management system which maintains a full inventory of the stock and facilitates the operation of a performance contract which ensure that performance indicator targets are at least met and often exceeded.

To ensure a holistic approach to lighting refurbishment new priorities for refurbishment will be developed to maximise the benefits of improvements and ensure that quality of light, reduction in light pollution, energy reduction, assistance to the reduction of crime and disorder and priority for busy routes (road and footway) are all taken into account formally in the prioritisation of programmes.

An investment need of £0.5m/year over the next fifteen years has been outlined to bring the county's lighting to the condition desired and £0.25m has been identified for 2000/01 to commence work on this programme.

Winter Maintenance

The County Council operates a system of precautionary salting in anticipation of icy conditions on the road network. This covers 47% of the road network and is prioritised in line with the National Code of Good Practice. This coverage is reviewed annually with the publication of a Winter Maintenance Plan.

To improve the efficiency of the service and substantially reduce its environmental impact the County Council is refurbishing its winter maintenance depots. This comprises the construction of salt storage barns, improved site drainage and the introduction of site vehicle weighbridges. A six year replacement programme is also underway to update the fleet of salt spreading vehicles equipping them with Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) monitoring equipment which monitors salt spread, vehicle position and speed.

As a further result of the service review, the time taken to ensure readiness for salting action will be reduced by over 30% to one hour. The time taken to treat principal roads with salt will be reduced by 20% to 2 hours.

Road Signs and Marking

The County Council is responsible for over 52,000 roads signs in excess of 3,000 km of markings and around 93,000 road studs. These features play a critical function in contributing to the safety and convenience of highway users. A comprehensive inventory is maintained on the county's HERMIS information system. The recent service review has indicated the need to improve upon the current systems of inspection and renewal.

During 2000, the existing safety inspection system will be complemented by the introduction of condition monitoring inspections. For routes carrying over 10,000 vehicles/day, the condition of road marking and studs will be formally inspected annually and renewal programmes instigated where differences are found. On these routes, road signs will have their condition inspected every 2 years and inadequate signing will be replaced. Furthermore, signs will be cleaned twice a year on these busier routes rather than the annual clean on other routes. Any reported safety hazards or those identified through regular safety inspections will be renewed as is presently the case.

Environmental Issues

The maintenance service review has analysed the environmental impact of highway maintenance activities. The Environment Department will be introducing an Environmental Management Scheme (EMS) in accordance with ISO 14001 for its activities by March 2001. The adoption of a whole life costing approach to maintenance will make a significant contribution to the EMS approach. Maintenance methods will be reviewed to minimise waste disposal and increase re-use and recycling and a new internal code of practice will be produced.

The county's term contract for engineering consultancy also includes for the use of an EMS to ISO 14001. This system is currently in operation and identifies the potential environmental impacts or liabilities that may result from schemes within the maintenance programme. These impacts are considered during the scheme design process and action taking to reduce adverse environmental effects. The environmental effects are assessed against the following factors:

• cultural heritage
• pedestrian and other community effects
• construction impacts
• vehicle travellers
• ecology and nature
• water quality/drainage
• landscape effects
• geology and soils
• land use
• impact of schemes on policies
• traffic noise and vibration

Changes to street lighting bulk, clean and change programmes will reduce waste and the removal of non-essential road-sign lighting, (replaced with reflective signing) will reduce energy consumption. A trial of recycled plastic road signs will take place in 2000 to assess their suitability against the current aluminium type used.

The existing maintenance systems for ‘heritage' roadside verges - those exhibiting flora and fauna of particular bio-diversity value - will be improved and extended where possible, an example being the ‘Environmental Guidelines for the Management of Roads in the Chilterns'.

The county guide to new road developers ‘Roads in Hertfordshire' will be comprehensively reviewed to incorporate revised standards for low maintenance materials and specifications which reduce the environmental impact of new construction and its subsequent maintenance requirements.

Proposed Programmes of Work

The maintenance programme is considered under five categories:

1. Long term structural maintenance to roads, footways and cycleways e.g. refurbishment work comprising resurfacing, reconstruction, strengthening, drainage schemes;
2. Short term structural maintenance to roads, footways and cycleways e.g. surface dressing, patching, pothole repairs;
3. Routine Maintenance, comprising safety issues (e.g. signs, road markings, gully emptying and other drainage cleansing) and environmental work (e.g. grass cutting, verge repairs, weedkilling);
4. Street lighting maintenance for lighting, illuminated signs and subway lights;
5. Winter maintenance, which covers precautionary salting and snow and ice clearance.

The delivery of maintenance programmes is channelled through the six area highway offices each covering a district council area. Within each area, much of the maintenance work is undertaken by district/borough councils acting as agent for the county council.

One stop service outlets known as Highway Partnerships operate in the remaining four district areas. These are joint district and county resourced units overseen by joint elected member panels.

All of these arrangements provide a local point of contact and a responsive, effective service to the public in accordance with the County's Citizen Charter standards.

Principal Roads Maintenance Programme

Clear targets have been set for the improvement of the structural and surface condition of principal roads. These have been derived from a detailed analysis of condition surveys.

There is a recognition that based on the current structural condition, shown in Figure 5.8(2), if no significant strengthening works are undertaken on the sites exhibiting 0-5 years residual life at the end of the period 2001-06 these sites will be exhibiting negative residual life. This would also be the case if all investment were concentrated on a worst first basis to the parts of the network currently demonstrating negative residual life. In general, these routes are likely to need the most significant repairs often full reconstruction and earlier interventions on routes which only require strengthening will be more cost effective in the long term.

Therefore, the programme that has been developed for structural refurbishment focuses on maximising the strengthening of routes exhibiting 0-5 years residual life including associated sections of the negative and 5-10 years life where practicalities dictate. It is anticipated that the extent of negative residual life will also be reduced by this strategy but it is not cost effective to eliminate it. This represents the most effective way of reducing costs over time whilst minimising the proportion of the network with low residual life.

The financial programme put forward in Table 5.8(1) represents similar levels to that in the previous years Local Transport Plan but will effect a clear improvement in structural condition of the network showing less than five years residual life - from 10.8% to 6%. As a measure of its commitment towards this improvement the county council has injected over £1 million of capital expenditure over and above the government funding provided through the provisional LTP settlement.

TABLE 5.8(1) Principal Road Structural Maintenance Programme

Should funding beyond that proposed in Table 5.8(1) be made available then it would be directed towards achieving two discrete aims. Firstly, a continuance of the approach described above concentrating on strengthening and secondly an extension of this approach with a greater emphasis on reducing more comprehensively sections of road exhibiting negative residual life. It is estimated that an injection of £1.2m per annum over and above that shown in Table 5.8(1) would enable the proportion of the principal road network showing less than 5 years residual life to be reduced to 3%. Similarly increases of £2.4 m per annum would give reductions to 1%.

However, analysis of the comprehensive deflectograph surveys undertaken in 1999 shows that any investment of less than around £2 million per annum on structural strengthening targeted as described above would actually show a deterioration in condition from current levels in both the negative and less than 5 year bands.

Whilst the refurbishment programme is targeted on improving both the overall structural and surface condition of the network, there will continue to be a need for short term structural maintenance. New monitoring systems have been established to monitor the extent of reactive maintenance which is being carried out. This will be particularly important in monitoring the condition of sections of road exhibiting zero residual life.

The expenditure requirement for short term structural maintenance is £600,000/year. This will cater for continued programmes of surface dressing, patching, localised surfacing and similar preventative maintenance treatments. This cost effective approach will assist in prolonging the life of the asset and reducing the need for more extensive repairs.

This approach gives the environmental benefits accrued by reducing the scale of future works. As schemes within the refurbishment programme are taken forward they will be subjected to environmental appraisals under the Environmental Management Systems described earlier.

Table 5.8(2) Performance Indicators

Indicator	Current (year)	Target (year)
Percentage of principal roads with a residual life of 5 years and over (Best Value)	89% (1999)	94%
Percentage of principal roads with negative residual life	4.7 (2000)
The cost of highway maintenance per 100 km travelled by a vehicle on principal roads. (Best Value)	£0.19/100km (1999/00)	£0.23/100km (2000/01)

Targets

• Percentage of principal roads exhibiting less than five years residual life 6%
• Percentage of principal roads below 0.1 of SCRIM investigatory levels 0%
• Future target to be developed relating to condition on non-principal roads