National Road Maintenance Review Roads Summit

Options - Nov 2011

Implement
Description Benefit Related Phase 1 Recommendation Related Development or Enhancement
Review Scottish Road Works Commissioner Reports with regard to potential charges for overrunning. Significant R9 En8
Deliver and adopt SCOTS recommended minimum levels of service for road maintenance for local authorities. Implement Transport Scotland review of maintenance thresholds and condition parameters for identification of maintenance schemes. Significant R8 D7
Seek to secure continued funding for SCOTS RAMP programme Significant R1 & 3 D1
Initiate a SCOTS, Transport Scotland, Health & Safety Executive, Law Society engagement group to ensure better understanding and appreciation between technical and legal parties involved in the road maintenance industry. Significant R11 D7
Set up National Roads Research Working Group with a remit for all road maintenance research topics. This is to coordinate potential new products or techniques and share knowledge and experience. Significant R11 D7
Further co-ordinate work on: joint repair techniques; pothole repairs; bridge repair techniques; and footway repairs. Moderate R11 D7
Review the recommendations of the current winter maintenance service review to identify how they can be integrated into this Review. Significant R11 D7
Transport Scotland to deploy asset management hierarchies on the trunk road network. Moderate R1, 3 & 4 D1
Develop and continue Road to Excellence to work towards providing a suite of international benchmarks. Moderate R5 D4

 

Additional Research to be Undertaken
Description Benefit Related Phase 1 Recommendation Related Development or Enhancement
Identify opportunities for the introduction of new contracting approaches to increase flexibility and to include framework agreements. Moderate R7 D2
Review current traffic management standards at roadworks to provide more customisable approach. Significant R8 D5 & 7
Consider amending the criteria for determining which roads are surveyed as part of the local authority SRMCS condition survey. This is to reflect their maintenance hierarchy, rather than simply as A, B, C and unclassified roads. Moderate R3 & 4 D1
Develop an effective overarching communication strategy that raises awareness on the critical value of road maintenance. Significant R10 & 11 D5 & 7
Develop a mechanism to review and authorise Scottish departures from UK standards e.g. use of reflective materials in lieu of lighting standards. Moderate R8 D5
Explore multi year budget allocation at central and local level. Significant R1 & 9 En8
Review Scottish technical standards against UK and international equivalents. This is to identify examples of over-specification, where relaxation or a risk Significant R8 D7
Adoption of the SCOTS suite of roads KPIs by all local authorities in Scotland. Transport Scotland to review the suite of KPIs to determine if it would be appropriate to adopt them, allowing direct benchmarking against local authorities. Moderate R5 D3
Investigate means/ barriers/ benefits to allocating revenue from asset sales to inject into roads improvement. Moderate R9 En8
Review the conflict between road construction periods, working periods in different circumstances, budget cycles and road user demands. Moderate R9 D7
Increase the scope of Traffic Scotland website to include local roads authorities to offer a single portal for all travel information. Moderate R11 D7
Develop and apply a consistent unit cost benchmarking methodology across all roads authorities. Significant R5 & 9 D3
Potential contributions from utility companies to the costs of making good long term damage to roads due to reinstatements. Significant R6 En8
Investigate funding distribution options to reflect need based on road use and hierarchy. Moderate R9 En8
Investigate existing local authority surveys and the Scottish household survey to capture public perceptions in a cost effective way. Moderate R10 D7
Explore the optimal delivery of road maintenance services. Significant R6 & 9 En9 & 10

 

Further Economic Appraisal Required
Description Benefit Related Phase 1 Recommendation Related Development or Enhancement
Joint collaboration/ working arrangements/ operational collaboration between all roads authorities. Significant R6 & 9 En9
Integrated service arrangements within local authorities (for example, the current GCC model). Significant R6 & 9 En9
Implement asset management planning across all roads authorities and monitor effectiveness. Significant R3 D1
Investigate local authority shared services across smaller consortia of councils (smaller regional groups/ clusters). Significant R6 & 9 En9
Introduce a lean culture across the road maintenance sector. Moderate R2 D6 & 7