Agenda item

Diane Ware, Principal Technical Officer will take us through the proposed draft 5-year work plan followed by an opportunity for questions. The finalised Plan will be brought back to the Board for approval around April 2022.

Diane Ware, Principal Technical Officer for Highways introduced the draft 5 year major maintenance plan. The final plan would be amended on the basis of feedback received would come back to the Board in March/April 2022 for approval, prior to final sign off by Cabinet. Once the plan was finalised it could be viewed online at https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/highways-asset-management.

A continuous programme of surveying was underway throughout the whole county, utilising land rovers with specialist equipment to take measurements on the conditions of the roads. Last year all roads in the county were surveyed. The data generated enabled officers to determine if the road had structural faults or surface faults.

The officer explained that the funding model for roads had changed. Previously funds were allocated to each community area based on the kilometres of road in that community area.  This had now changed so that funds were proportioned based on how much maintenance was needed in each area, which was fairer and ensured that the roads in the poorest condition would be worked on.

Slides were shown to the meeting detailing the condition of roads by Area Board, some community areas were in worse than others and it was hoped that this would level out over the next 5 years ensuring that all areas roads were in a better condition. Changes to the Area Board boundaries had affected the plans and there were still some updates required to ensure that all roads and works required were recorded under the correct area board. The condition of the roads in Salisbury had improved in comparison with Wiltshire as a whole.

It was explained than unfortunately highways works were not carbon neutral due the nature of the products used and where they came from. However, by intervening early and keeping roads in good condition for as long as possible, usually by treating them in order to preserve the top layer, would help to ensure they were not structurally damaged and required rebuilding, which would help to reduce carbon costs.

The quality of roads in Salisbury was generally quite good, however there were localised areas where the conditions were bad, and these were included in the plan.

The officer explained that all the condition data was used to rank roads and gave them a scoring which was used to determine the order they should be worked on and the best type of scheme to use on certain roads. For example, surface dressing (tar and chips), a new surface course, or dig it up and completely resurface. The officer would propose a program order to the area highway engineer for feedback and the order may change slightly. At this point for anything from 2023 – 2027 community input could make a difference to what was in the plan, so feedback was welcomed.

The officer encouraged anyone who felt a road had been missed out of the plan, or the works should be re-ordered to contact her on diane.ware@wiltshire.gov.uk. Although it was highlighted that to bring certain works forward, others would need to be pushed back.

In response to questions details were given regarding contractors were working with Wiltshire Council on reducing carbon emissions. It was also confirmed that some of the smaller C roads or unclassified roads were in the plan. It was explained that there had been a significant reduction in budget this year. As a result, officers had to think outside of the box and possible cost saving solutions were to use different materials or possibly to extend times that roads could be worked on, with the agreement of the local community.

The officer was leaving Wiltshire Council, so Councillors gave the officer their best wishes and thanked her for her hard work.