Highway asset management strategy
In recent years there had been an unacceptable decline in the condition of the county's roads, particularly the rural C and unclassified roads. This is a consequence of decades of under-investment. In 2013, we implemented a new highway asset management strategy which has the following key components:
- Major investment over two years (2014/15 and 2015/16) - an extra £20 million of works targeted to fix roads that were in the greatest need of repair and have the greatest value to our local communities
- Sustained investment over the whole life of the highway asset - an on-going programme of works that is targeted at treating roads as they are showing signs of deterioration, fixing roads before they need larger, more costly repairs
- Reduce the need for reactive 'temporary' pothole repairs as a response to safety defects. We will aim to deliver a high proportion of our routine pothole repairs using permanent fixes that not only make the road safe, but improve the condition of the road and extends its useful life
- Shift our routine resources further towards preventative activities, such as the clearance of drainage. Well-drained roads decline at a slower rate and are more resilient to damage from severe weather
- Provide the support that enables routine maintenance work to be delivered locally so that defects on the road can be responded to locally when they are recognised as an issue by local people. This means that more defects can be fixed before they become a hazard to road users. Through our approach to locality working we will ensure that this local delivery complements our countywide programme of works
Through this five point highway asset management strategy we will reduce the cost of potholes to the council and the community by over £1.6 billion. We will reduce the whole life cost of maintenance by over £72 million and the strategy will prevent over 386,000 potholes over the 34 year lifecycle of our roads.