Agenda item

The report aims to give an insight on the planned maintenance programme currently being delivered and how we chose the roads and footways to go on the schemes.

Donna Kelly (Service Manager – Highway Operations and Protection) gave a presentation on the planned maintenance programme currently being delivered in the Council and provided a summary of the following key points:

-        The highway planned maintenance programme identified the carriageways and footways in most need of planned repair.

-        This was formulated based on annual condition surveys undertaken by the highway engineers and the routine inspection condition ratings.

-        The roads were prioritised based on their scores.

-        Requests made by the Highway Inspector and/or a Councillor or Resident for planned maintenance were also taken into consideration.

-        The budget of £1.88m would be split between footway and carriageway schemes, with footways taking 60% of the budget.

-        The 3-year programme gave the planned maintenance engineers flexibility to move schemes between the three-year period if something happened on site

-        Once the 3-year programme was in place, Officers continued to carry out annual condition surveys as some roads, currently in fair condition, could worsen following a bad winter.

-        A summary was provided of the completed footway and carriageway schemes for 2021/22.

The Chair explained that the Committee had received a written question from a member of the public in advance of the meeting and Officers would be invited to answer the question or make a comment to address the main areas of concerns raised as follows:

1: A resident commented that it was disappointing that Sterne Street and the area known as " Caxton Village" had not been identified in the planned maintenance works. It was felt that the area and the streets were rapidly being used for excessive HGV delivery vehicles to the shops and food outlets along Uxbridge Road creating pollution, congestion and safety issues as there were no turning points for these vehicles. They asked why this conservation area had not been included in the planned maintenance schedule to try and protect the conservation area for both residents and the community and requested that this conservation area along with several listed buildings was included in these plans. They also recommended that this area was in need of stricter loading and parking/access rules to ensure long term protection of the historic buildings and setting.

Donna Kelly (Service Manager – Highway Operations and Protection) noted that in relation to the roads in Caxton Village not being on the planned maintenance programme, it was confirmed that the Council had undertaken a number of schemes in the area over the last 12-years with two footways due to be repaved within the next 3-years as follows:

Bulwer Street

Carriageway resurfaced in 2009

Footway repaved in 2016

Sterne Street

Carriageway resurfaced in 2010

Footway repaved in 2019 - from Shepherd’s Bush Place to Caxton Road

Aldine Street

Carriageway resurfaced in 2010

Footway due to be repaved in 2023/24 subject to funding and further surveys

Caxton Road

Carriageway resurfaced in 2010

Footway repaved 2019

Masum Choudhury (Head of Transport) commented that in addition to the planned maintenance programme the Council also conducted reactive maintenance, so where a street may not be on the planned maintenance programme, inspectors regularly assessed the condition of the asset and if it required organised repairs based on the assessment.

Masum Choudhury (Head of Transport) explained that with regards to the traffic, parking and loading concerns raised, these were outside of the maintenance programme and would require more careful consideration to balance the needs and demands for the area.  There was also a motorcycle permit trial being conducted in the area as well as work likely to come forward in terms of upgrading the temporary cycle lanes.  Part of this work would need to look at the loading and traffic movements. If re-surfacing needs were identified, then this would be requested by either coordinating with the Council’s planned maintenance programme or delivered by the capital delivery team as part of any project coming forward.

Councillor Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler raised concerns around the condition of the roads in Fulham which had been left with patches, following the utility works that had been carried out by G Network. She asked for further clarification to be provided on the terms agreed with G Network in relation to the resurfacing of these roads. Donna Kelly (Service Manager – Highway Operations and Protection) provided a summary of the terms agreed with G Network, noting that regular inspections would be carried out by an Inspector to monitor their work and if there were any issues with the reinstatement, these would be picked up by the network management team. She requested that further information be provided on the roads in Fulham that were of concern so that this could be raised with the relevant team. Councillor Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler noted that she would contact Donna Kelly, following the meeting to provide additional details.

Action: Councillor Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler/ Donna Kelly

Councillor Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler enquired whether the Council had any plans to install porous asphalt pavements across the borough. Donna Kelly (Service Manager – Highway Operations and Protection) explained that Officers were working closely with the Council’s contractors (FM Conway) to explore different options for the materials that could be used as part of the carriageway programme for next year. As an alternative to porous asphalt, Officers confirmed they were currently investigating warm mix asphalt due to its low carbon footprint.

Councillor Iain Cassidy noted the challenges the Council had previously faced in engaging with utility companies. He enquired if the situation had improved in more recent years. In response Donna Kelly (Service Manager – Highway Operations and Protection) explained that the Council’s position with utility companies had improved slightly, however the issues still remained the same.

Ian Hawthorn (Assistant Director Environment Special Projects and Highways) commented that the Council had made several efforts to improve their engagement with the utility companies by holding regular coordination meetings, in advance of any works being carried to resolve any issues and discuss the Council’s forward plan. Despite attempts by the Council to improve the situation, engaging with utilities companies remained a challenge.

Members noted the report.