Agenda item

This report is the third annual review to be reported to Overview and Scrutiny of the Highway Infrastructure Contract between Medway Council and Volker Highways. This report and the supporting appendix provide an annual review for Year 5 of the Contract Term, covering the period 1 August 2021 to 31 July 2022.

Discussion:

This report presented the annual review of the Highway Infrastructure Contract between Medway Council and VolkerHighways. This covered the period from August 2021 to July 2022. The contract had commenced in 2017 for an initial period of five years, with the possibility of five single year extensions, depending on performance. VolkerHighways had achieved the level required for a fourth year extension which meant that the contract was currently scheduled to end on 31 July 2025.

The following was discussed:

Pothole fixing, communication, low emission vehicles and contract extension – A Member asked how the fixing of potholes could ensure that further repairs were not needed and whether the methods used could be improved. They were also concerned about communication with residents ahead of road closures and co-ordination between organisations. It was also asked how the rollout of electric vehicles was progressing and whether extension of the contract was good value for the Council.

The Volker Highways representative said that the preferred method of pothole repair varied between local authority areas and that repairs had to be within available budgets. Where a repair was found to be defective this would be rectified at no cost to the Council. The use of electric vehicles was only currently considered viable for smaller vehicles due to the limited range of large vehicles, which decreased further during the winter. Alternative fuels were being investigated but there were challenges related to these. The Strategic Lead, Frontline Services said that there would be a particular effort to fix potholes over the next four to six weeks and that permanent fixes would be made where possible.

The Assistant Director, Frontline Services, acknowledged that communications were not always as good as they could be, particularly when emergency repairs needed to be undertaken. The Traffic Operations and Street Works Teams had been brought together and it was anticipated that this would help to improve communication. The existing contract had only been extended due to Key Performance Indicators having been met. Subject to the indicators being met, the existing contract could be extended to 2027 at the latest.

Permanency of repairs – in response to a question that asked what determined whether a repair made would be temporary or permanent, the VolkerHighways representative said that repairs that were undertaken as part of the planned programme of works would be permanent and that temporary repairs tended to be used where unexpected defects were identified.

Road and pavement repairs and gritting – It was suggested that a dedicated programme was needed to ensure that pavements were cleared of snow and gritted and that more attention was needed to pavement repairs. A section of City Way and some other local roads were highlighted as being in a poor state of repair. The amount of permanent repairs being undertaken and frequency at which temporary repairs became permanent was highlighted as being a concern. It was also asked how quickly priority 1 and priority 4 repairs would be carried out.

The Strategic Lead, Frontline Services said that the pavements in main areas were gritted and that grit bins were replenished during cold weather. Where issues were highlighted by residents these would be addressed as best as they could be. A trial was being developed and it was anticipated that this would result in an increased level of permanent repairs being made. The Roads and Highway Consultant said that response times for priority 1 and priority 4 repairs would depend on the safety implications but that typical timescales would be within 24 hours for Priority 1 repairs and within 28 days for Priority 4. These could often be scheduled sooner subject to all Priority 1 repairs having been dealt with. Potholes were more prevalent on roads that had not being resurfaced for a long period of time

Scheduling of works – An example of a newly resurfaced footpath in Park Avenue, Gillingham having been dug up for cable installation was highlighted. It was questioned how works were scheduled and what engagement took place with utility companies to ensure that there were not such occurrences. The Strategic Lead, Frontline Services said that strict criteria governed utility works and that permits were issued for planned work. There should therefore not have been an occurrence of a pavement having been resurfaced immediately prior to planned works being undertaken. The Member was invited to provide further details to enable the issue to be investigated.

Car park gritting – in response to a question about gritting of car parks, the Assistant Director, Frontline Services said that some of the Council’s larger public car parks were routinely gritted, and she undertook to provide the Committee with a list of public car parks that were gritted.

Adoption of roads – In response to a Committee Member who commented on the sometimes long time period before roads in new developments were adopted by the Council, the Assistant Director, Frontline Services said that there were certain standards that roads had to reach before the Council would consider adopting them. The Roads and Highways Consultant added that this was important to ensure that developers did not use adoption as a way of avoiding maintenance liabilities.

Decision:

The Committee:

a)    Noted the contents of this report and the Annual Review for Year 5 of the HIC as set out in Appendix 1.

b)    Requested that consideration be given regarding how to improve communication to residents in relation to highway works.

c)    Requested that the Assistant Director, Frontline Services provide the Committee with a list of public car parks that were gritted.