Adaption Plan

0-2 years

Implement climate-resilient road design standards, including a review and implementation of updated design standards for road and culvert design to consider more intense rainfall events in the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB).

0-2 years

Carry out increased public engagement, to advise and communicate risks to the road network from climate hazards. This includes escalating warnings beforehand, managing expectation during an event and advising when services are restored.

0-2 years

Improve signage and road markings including greater provision of variable-message sign (VMS) in higher risk areas.

0-2 years

Increase understanding of snow/ice/road surface/vehicle interactions to enhance efficacy of gritting operations. This should also include a review of grit management.

0-2 years

Enhance pro-active information flow to government and stakeholders during a weather-related incident to enable optimal use of internal/control room resources.

1-3 Years

Review and, if necessary, increase provision of shelter locations with facilities, life supplies and evacuation routes in areas at risk of isolation.

1-3 Years

Review the provision and performance of infrastructure such as ‘wind baffles’ on vulnerable structures and bridge expansion joints.

0-2 years

Improving adaptive management through the review, development and implementation of plans and strategies that provide a response framework during a disruptive climate hazard event, for example a Scour Management Strategy.

0-2 years

Improve diversion planning onto local road networks including consideration of concurrent local impacts and utilise adaptive traffic management systems.

0-2 years

Promote comprehensive entries to the Disruption Risk Register and Incidents Database in Transport Scotland’s Asset Management Performance System (AMPS), including input of causes related to climate hazards, time disrupted, immediate cost of response and repairs, and also downstream (cascading) impacts.

0-2 years

Integration of weather forecasting systems for early warning alerts into current processes:

· Met Office Services, MetDesk, Winter Hub, DATEX II, SEPA SMS alert system

· SEPA PREDICTOR Flood forecasting pilot for improving approach to surface water flood forecasting.

· Landslide/Rainfall correlation investigation to inform elevating risk levels

1-3 Years

Adaptive management systems aligned and informed by adaptation monitoring framework. For example, proactive maintenance of structures in flood prone areas ahead of predicted heavy rainfall events

1-3 Years

Build in adaptation actions to Operating Company contracts to ensure that adaptation actions are effectively cascaded in a timely manner for identifying risks, organisational agreements, agreeing diversion routes and reviewing performance indicators to ensure they are fit for purpose.

0-2 years

Continued rollout of weather-resistant asphalt - almost 35% of the TRN has been resurfaced with asphalt more resilient to cold weather, extreme rainfall, and warmer temperatures.

0-2 years

Monitor landslide-prone slopes, liaise with weather forecasters, undertake landslide patrols during risk periods, deliver appropriate landslide risk reduction measures.

0-2 years

Prioritise maintenance and renewal activities in areas where there are known resilience issues. This includes directing operations and maintenance to address higher risk sites in areas that may often be overlooked.

0-2 years

Promotion of nature-based solutions at the catchment scale. Incorporating green infrastructure for natural flood, landslide, wind, and heat management helps to improve the climate resilience of the network, adjacent non-trunk infrastructure and neighbouring communities.

0-2 years

Development of business cases for future investments should consider climate change risks and exposure, based on HM Treasury Green Book and Orange Book principles, as well as carbon emissions trade-offs. Policy opportunities should be explored to ensure decisions around the location of new infrastructure consider future climate change impacts.

0-2 years

Improve resilience incident response procedures and processes after events occur.

1-3 Years

In locations of noted vulnerability, strengthen bridges and embankments to withstand extreme weather events and scour risk, or elevate road, bridges, and structures out of risk areas.

1-3 Years

Prioritise investigation of coastal defence structures in high-risk locations including trial of Dynamic Adaptive Planning Pathways (DAPP) approach. DAPP represents an approach to prioritising adaptation options in the face of uncertain and evolving climate-related challenges.

1-3 Years

Retrofitting of drainage systems to cope with increased precipitation, including promoting Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS). This also provides an opportunity to address non-point source pollution runoff.

1-3 Years

Develop Dynamic Adaptive Planning Pathways (DAPP) templates to communicate and evaluate different management schemes for specific vulnerable locations with trigger points informed by adaptation monitoring framework.

3-5 Years

The remit of the Vulnerable Locations Operational Group will be i) scaled to identify and implement catchment management solutions; and ii) consider Vulnerable Locations across all climate hazards.

0-2 Years

Provide support to Scottish Road Research Board (SRRB) and wider engagement on climate research programmes and Natural Hazards.

0-2 Years

Implementation of joint working with SEPA, Scottish Water, local authorities, landowners, and environmental organisations to deliver catchment-scale solutions via the establishment of a Drainage Working Group. Collaborativecatchment schemes promote holistic solutions, identify co-benefits, and avoid maladaptation through participation in the in the River Basin Management Planning (RBMP) group.

0-2 Years

Produce a guide to support private landowners with managing climate hazards that could impact TRN infrastructure and work together to implement best-practice adaptation strategies that reduce risks such as flooding and landslides.

0-2 Years

Enhance public advice around use of winter tyres and snow chains in vulnerable communities and locations during significant events. Engagement with the public to advise against travel in cold spells to reduce risk to road users from hazardous road conditions.

0-2 Years

Ensure that climate adaptation is embedded in procurement, business cases and supply chains for new procurement schemes under Major Projects.

1-3 Years

Engage in a national risk assessment of weather-related cascading infrastructure failures in the Scottish National Adaptation Plan (SNAP3), as well as specific policies and/or actions to plan for, and manage, risks from interdependent infrastructure.

1-3 Years

Consider prioritised maintenance in more vulnerable locations and improve methods for inspection and reporting.

1-3 Years

Explore options to develop guidance for local authorities on developing climate change risk assessments and adaptation plans for local roads.

0-2 years

Continued collaboration with University and Research bodies to develop new insights into the effects of scour on structures across the network, and novel techniques for monitoring the river characteristics that lead to scour events.

0-2 years

Investigate wider interdependent impacts to Scotland economy and communities including transport modelling disruption estimates. This could include an assessment of the economic and social costs of disruptions to Scotland, which will support awareness on the effect of wider adaptation challenges, using transport modelling of traffic disruption.

1-3 Years

Outputs from the TRAP should be fed to the VLOG for assessment and prioritisation. Identified areas of high risk and vulnerability should be added to a longlist, followed by a prioritisation and short list of priorities. Specific vulnerable locations can then be assessed in further detail.

1-3 Years

Development of a centralised Geographical Information System (GIS) interface by AMPS which is updated from Disruptions Risk Register, Incidents Database, and Vulnerable Locations (all hazards). This will help to provide more holistic insights into the problem areas of the TRN and inform the cost benefit relating to business cases.

1-3 Years

An investigation of coastal change in vulnerable areas should be completed near the TRN including erosion risk, sea-level rise, and roadservicelevels. This will help to inform a dynamic adaptive approach to management schemes, including the potential for managed retreat in the long-term. This assessment can initially be informed by Trunk Road Climate Risk Assessment and Dynamic Coast outputs.

1-3 Years

Inspection of bridges during hot temperatures should be completed to assess expansion risk potential. The full impact of more frequent warm days (>25°C) and hot days (>30°C) on TRN assets, particularly aging swing bridges, is unknown.

3-5 Years

Electrical equipment and ITS infrastructure that services the TRN should be reviewed to ensure assets are able to function in higher temperatures to avoid overheating and short-circuiting of vital connections.

0-2 years

Regular monitoring of climate impacts on trunk roads through current systems including the Disruption Risk Register and Asset Management Performance System Incident Data to contribute to adaptation monitoring framework.

0-2 years

Transport Scotland reports on its objectives under the most recent Scottish National Adaptation Plan and accompanying monitoring framework.

0-2 years

Continuing to monitor ACCAR outcomes that contribute towards the three key outcomes: safe, reliable, resilient. This includes regular monitoring of climate impacts on the Scottish TRN, alongside other transportation modes and reporting on adaptation investment.

1-3 Years

A benefits mapping exercise to clearly demonstrate how certain activities deliver benefits and ultimately contribute to project and organisational ambitions e.g. objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs).