2.1 As reported to Council on 26 April 2011 additional funding has been approved for road and footway maintenance as detailed in the table below:

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "2.1 As reported to Council on 26 April 2011 additional funding has been approved for road and footway maintenance as detailed in the table below:"

Della Harmon
8 years ago
Views:

Midlothian Council Tuesday 28 June 2011 Item No 19 Reducing the Road Maintenance Backlog Report by John Blair, Director Corporate Resources 1 Purpose of Report At the Council meeting of 26 April 2011

1 Midlothian Council Tuesday 28 June 2011 Item No 19 Reducing the Road Maintenance Backlog Report by John Blair, Director Corporate Resources 1 Purpose of Report At the Council meeting of 26 April 2011 a report was submitted by Director Corporate Resources noting the key findings of the Audit Scotland report Maintaining Scotland s Roads A Follow Up Report. At this meeting 1.0M was allocated for road maintenance to arrest further deterioration in the Midlothian Council road network. The Director, Corporate Resources was asked to submit a further report to Council with details on the impact of previous spending and a detailed assessment of future need in relation to both the road and footway networks in Midlothian. 2 Background 2.1 As reported to Council on 26 April 2011 additional funding has been approved for road and footway maintenance as detailed in the table below: Carriageway Footway Year Capital Revenue Capital 2010/11 2, , /12 1, , / The road maintenance current backlog in Midlothian stands at 24M based on the Society of Chief Officers of Transport (SCOTS) State of the Scottish Road Network report published in 2010 and reported to Council in June 2010 and a backlog of 12.5M for footways. 2.3 The Statutory Performance Indicator for road maintenance in Midlothian currently indicates that 31.2% of the network is in an unacceptable condition. The following graph illustrates how Midlothian compares with other Scottish authorities. [9102]

0M was allocated for road maintenance to arrest further deterioration in the Midlothian Council road network.

2 2 Source: SCOTS SPI figures for 2010/11 (to be verified) 2.4 Work carried out on behalf of SCOTS indicates that within Midlothian only 63.0% of the required road maintenance budget is provided to keep the road network in its present condition. If the current levels of under investment are maintained for the next 10 years, SCOTS project that a further 15.3% (97.2km) of the network will fall into an unacceptable condition category. 2.5 As part of Road Services continual monitoring and performance measures, the length of footway and road resurfaced every year is monitored. The table below highlights these lengths. Road Resurfaced Footway Resurfaced Notes % KM % KM 2007/ % % / % % 10.0 (b) 2009/ % % 4.0 (a) 2010/ % % 13.0 Notes: (a) Capital carriageway infrastructure renewal budget withdrawn as a result of the close down of the Council s capital programme agreed by Council on 26 August (b) Additional capital funding for footway renewals approved by Council on 11 February As shown in the above table withdrawal of road/footway upgrade budget allocation has a direct impact on the amount of the network that is resurfaced. 2.7 Notwithstanding that, Council requested that an action plan be drawn up and options presented to address the current backlog.

If the current levels of under investment are maintained for the next 10 years, SCOTS project that a further 15.3% (97.2km) of the network will fall into an unacceptable condition category. 2.

3 In an ideal world, a road running surface lasts for approximately 10 years. This would mean that 10% of the road network would require to be resurfaced every year, equating to approximately 63.5km or roughly 7 times last year s resurfaced length. 2.8 To address the maintenance backlog funding may need to be provided over several years. The table below outlines various options and indicative costs on how to address this. These figures are based on the removal of the 24M backlog over several years. However to maintain the steady state as reported by SCOTS, an additional 1.0M is added for every year the treatment is deferred. Remove Road Network Backlog Within Resurfaced Per Year Cost Per Annum Total Cost 1 Year 235km 25.0M 25.0M 3 Years 78km 9.0M 27.0M 5 Years 47km 5.8M 29.0M 7 Years 33km 4.4M 31.0M 10 Years 23km 2.4M 34.0M 2.9 The footway backlog was reported to Council in June 2010 as 12.5M. With the significant investment in 2010/11 and 2011/12 of 3.6M and 2.5M respectfully, the backlog figure is expected to reduce to around 7M. Further survey work is likely to confirm this figure. The footway network generally has a lower rate of deterioration than the road network and therefore assuming regular funding of for example an additional 2.5M over each of the next three years the footway backlog could be effectively removed. Remove Footway Backlog Within Resurfaced Per Year Cost Per Annum Total Cost 1 Year 94.5km 7.0M 7.0M 3 Years 31.5km 2.3M 7.5M 5 Years 18.9km 1.4M 8.0M 7 Years 13.5km 1.0M 8.5M 10 Years 9.5km 0.7M 9.0M 3 Report Implication 3.1 Resource The backlog investment is estimated at 25million for the road network and 7.5million for the footway network, and with current levels of investment it is projected that this will continue to increase. The tables in section 2.8 and 2.9 set out a number of scenarios and the costs of addressing this historic backlog over a range of years. The General Services Capital Plan 2011/12 to 2014/15 report on today s agenda sets out the current position for capital investment, the expectation of a continued reduction in government support and the emerging pressures which are estimated at 13million. 3

The table below outlines various options and indicative costs on how to address this. These figures are based on the removal of the 24M backlog over several years.

4 3.2 Risk Increased investment in the road and footway network will reduce the resources available for investment in other assets or will require an increased in borrowing which will increase pressure in the revenue budget. Each 1m of additional borrowing to support investment in the network will add approximately 80,000 p.a. to the revenue budget. The Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 places a duty of care on local authorities to manage and maintain all such roads in their area as are for the time being entered in a list (in this Act referred to as their list of public roads ). Notwithstanding this duty, an ever increasing length of road and footway network means that limited resources are stretched to maintain them. Funding to undertake upgrading works will reduce the risk of potential successful accident claims, to which a failure to maintain can be cited as a contributory factor. Despite the increased incident of pothole claims over the winter period the Council has successfully repudiated the majority of these. There is a risk that increased investment in the road and footway network will restrict the capacity to invest in the Councils other assets in future years. 3.3 Policy Strategy Maintaining the road network and footpath network at an acceptable level links directly to the Corporate Strategy where the Council will endeavour to provide suitable infrastructure for the efficient and effective delivery of services to meet the full range of community needs. Consultation As stated in previous reports to Council, discussions have taken place with the Edinburgh, Lothians, Borders and Fife (ELBF) shared services partners and they have experienced similar problems in connection with deterioration of the Road and Footpath Network. The problem of damage to the footway network has been also reported locally and nationally in the press and other media outlets. Equalities An equalities impact assessment is not required in relation to this report. Sustainability 4

The Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 places a duty of care on local authorities to manage and maintain all such roads in their area as are for the time being entered in a list (in this Act referred to as

5 The current level of funding is such that the road network condition cannot be sustained. 5 4 Summary The table in 2.8 shows the cost, based over five scenarios/ timescales to remove the current road network backlog. The SCOTS report states, that in order for the Midlothian road network to remain at a steady state in its current condition, an additional 1.0M has to be spent annually over and above the existing maintenance budget. The footway maintenance backlog was previously estimated at 12.5M. Following significant investment over the last 2 years this will result in the backlog figure reducing to around 7M. Like the roads backlog figure the further into the future the backlog clearance date is pushed, the more costly an exercise this becomes albeit not at the same scale. As a result, the further into the future the backlog clearance date is pushed, the more costly an exercise this becomes. 5 Recommendations Council is requested to consider the report. 15 June 2011 Report Contact: Neil Dougall Tel No neil.dougall@midlothian.gov.uk (ND/LJM) Background Papers: State of the Scottish Local Roads Network 2010 (Published by Society of Chief Officers of Transportation) Maintain Scotland s Roads A Follow Up Report (Published by Audit Scotland February 2011)

The SCOTS report states, that in order for the Midlothian road network to remain at a steady state in its current condition, an additional 1.

Road Asset Management Plan 2012

Road Asset Management Plan 2012 Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY... 5 1. INTRODUCTION... 6 1.1 What is asset management... 6 1.2 Drivers for asset management... 6 1.3 Clackmannanshire Council's Road Asset Management