COUNCILLORS BRIEFING NOTE

No.  18

Department:          Transport, Environment                      Further Enquiries to:    Peter Binley

                                   and Leisure

Date Prepared:      October 2009                                                Direct Line:      (01225) 713412

Road conditions in Wiltshire

Road conditions are monitored nationally by means of surveys using specialist equipment with lasers for the main roads, and by visual inspection of the minor roads. The surveys are carried out annually, with those for the more important roads being reported as National Indicators. Comparing the 2007/8 figures for County Council highway authorities the roads in Wiltshire would be ranked for condition as:-

    A Class Roads                        12^th equal out of 34

B and C Class roads             3^rd equal out of 34

Compared to roads in other counties in the South West the condition of roads in Wiltshire in 2007/8 would be ranked as:-

            A Class Roads                        3^rd equal out of 5

            B and C Class Roads             1^st equal out of 5

            Unclassified Roads                 1^st out of 5

Overall the conditions of roads in Wiltshire compare favourably with similar local authorities, and are in better condition than in many areas.

The effects of recent winter weather has undoubtedly had a detrimental effect on the condition of the network, and the proportion of network in need of works will increase slightly in the short term, but the results for future years are still expected to be in line with those of other authorities given the extensive road resurfacing programmes currently being undertaken in Wiltshire.

Roads for resurfacing are identified annually because roads deteriorate at different rates according to construction type, traffic volumes, weather effects and ground conditions. Road surfacing programmes are developed using technical surveys and local knowledge of the network, and this usually results in a spread of work across the network as shown on Figure 1. One of the key factors is to ensure there is adequate skid resistance. The safety of the network is more important than its appearance.

 briefing note no. 18 - figure 1 roads treated 2.31 Mb

There are variations in the condition of the various road types across the network because of the rates of deterioration and local factors. The breakdown by area board is shown on Figure 2. It should be noted that the results do not include the effects of the 2009/10 surfacing programme.

 briefing note no. 18 - figure 2 road conditions by community area 2 37.47 Kb

This information will be used to help identify schemes, but the priority remains road safety, and it is important to carry out works at those locations with the greatest safety risk irrespective of geographical location. It should be noted that even in areas with roads in better than average condition there will be some sites in need of attention.

The maintenance work on roads and bridges to be carried out each year is included in the Community Area Highways Information documents prepared for each community area annually in March.