Travel Choices for Scotland: Strategic Roads Review: Page 2

2.1 The trunk road network is a major national asset. Recent estimates suggest that its capital value is approximately £7.9 billion, representing the cumulative effect of decades of public investment. The first duty of any responsible Government is to protect the value of this asset through sound repair and maintenance. This has not always been the practice and the result has been deteriorating road conditions as shown in Table 2.1.

Note: Residual life represents the number of years to elapse before the surface reaches the stage when it may be necessary to undertake relatively more expensive reconstruction rather than strengthening to restore its full life. The figures are based on an annual survey of a sample of the trunk road network.

2.2 As the table shows, the proportion of the network with a residual life of less than 5 years almost doubled to over 20% between 1994-95 and 1997-98. This means that road users are experiencing a poorer service. In addition, any short-term savings which have been generated are a false economy. As the note to the table indicates, the implication is that more has to be spent in the longer-term to combat the effects of neglect.

2.3 That is why the Scottish Executive is allocating substantially more than before to trunk road repair and maintenance, in carrying forward the strategy set out in the Comprehensive Spending Review completed by the UK Government in 1998. As Table 2.2 shows, expenditure on motorway and trunk road repair and maintenance has already been very substantially increased from the low level inherited by the UK Government from its predecessor.

2.4 Expenditure during the current financial year will be 75% higher than in 1997-98 and by 2001-02 expenditure on repair and maintenance will be running at more than double the level at the time the present UK Government took office. From 1999-00, these figures include provision for payments (of about £23m per annum) relating to the completed A74(M). Under the terms of a Private Finance Initiative Design, Build, Finance and Operate scheme, these payments cover both the construction of the new stretches of the route and the maintenance (for 30 years) of a longer section of the motorway.

Table 2.2:
Actual and planned expenditure (£m) on motorway and trunk road repair and maintenance, 1995-96 to 2001-02

2.5 These increases will allow the inherited backlog of repair and maintenance to be addressed. Much will be achieved through increased expenditure across the network on routine maintenance. In particular it will allow the Executive to bring white lining up to a consistent standard on all routes, ensure that recent accident prevention initiatives (e.g. traffic calming in rural villages) are maintained to a high standard, and that recently developed Landscape Maintenance Plans are implemented in full. In addition, very substantial additional sums have also been allocated to arrest and reverse the significant deterioration evident on older sections of the most heavily trafficked motorways and trunk roads in Scotland, including the A720 (Edinburgh City Bypass) (where £5.6m has already been spent on the first phase of work), the M74, the A8 and the A80.

2.6 Additional spending on bridge strengthening and repairs is underway to ensure that bridges are capable of carrying expected traffic. A major strengthening contract is currently in hand to secure the future of the M8 Kingston Bridge and further refurbishment works will be required in the future to the bridge, approximately 4.5km of approach viaducts and the exit/entry ramps. Work has begun on replacing the A82 Base Camp Rail Bridge in Fort William and a number of other older life-expired structures will need to be replaced in coming years to avoid the need for weight restrictions on the trunk road network.


Major maintenance underway on A720	The Kingston Bridge on the M8 - a major strengthening programme is underway

2.7 This investment will ensure that the network is kept in a safe condition for the travelling public, that it provides a reasonable level of amenity and that the asset value of the road infrastructure is maintained.

2.8 There is, of course, a duty on the Executive to ensure that these extra resources are spent wisely. This requires sound planning of work to ensure that needs are prioritised and that intervention takes place at the appropriate time. It also requires sound procurement strategies to ensure that the taxpayer gets value for money.

2.9 The approaches taken to planning repair and maintenance activity vary according to the type of intervention involved. Cyclic maintenance is carried out at regular intervals, (eg cutting grass twice a year). Routine maintenance flows from regular safety and detailed inspections of the road network in order to detect and instigate the repair of defects, (eg potholes). Winter maintenance relies on the anticipation of oncoming winter conditions through weather reports, road sensors etc (e.g. pre-gritting).

2.10 The current levels of service have been developed over a number of years based on the knowledge and experience of road conditions taking due account of road safety, public liability issues and acceptable environmental standards. These standards are well established and widely recognised and acknowledged as prudent national standards.

2.11 Past budget levels have meant that it has not been possible to meet these standards. The increased budget will allow this - but over time. There will be a need for careful prioritisation of work until the backlog is removed.

2.12 Structural maintenance aims to ensure that the structural integrity of the road network is safeguarded in order to maintain its safety and serviceability. Structural maintenance involves mainly work such as replacing the carriageway (reconstruction), replacing the surface (resurfacing) and reinstating the skidding resistance of the surfacing (surface dressing).

2.13 Most bridge maintenance work is identified and prioritised by the Principal Inspection 6-year cyclic programme. In recent years the level of funding has generally been sufficient for high priority works related to durability or safety. If delayed, repair costs escalate rapidly with adverse implications for traffic. The recently completed trunk road bridge assessment programme identified some 91 bridges requiring further assessment, strengthening or replacement. This work will be spread over a number of years and will require the additional levels of funding for maintenance as a whole to be maintained. Provision has also been made for upgrading structural components such as parapets and piers where there is a high risk of failure in the event of accidental traffic impact.

2.14 The levels of service are defined by the choice of appropriate intervention levels which are set out in the UK standards document called the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges. The actual condition of the road is then measured against these through road condition surveys (used to compile the figures shown in Table 2.1). These are carried out annually and processed through a Pavement Management System. This provides information on the location and extent of identified deficiencies relative to the intervention levels over the whole of the road network. This information is used to develop a needs based and prioritised structural maintenance programme of works. The budgets now planned will reverse the historical under investment and the year-on-year deterioration in conditions.

2.15 The motorway and trunk road network is currently split into 8 Units for the purposes of management and maintenance. There are 3 Premium Units (PUs) and 5 All-Purpose Units (APUs). The PUs consist of mainly the motorway and dual carriageway network in the central belt and the APUs the single carriageway network to the north and south.

2.16 These arrangements were put in place at the time of local government reorganisation in April 1996 following a consultation exercise (Competing for Better Roads) and full open competition. The Premium Unit contracts are for 5 years while the original All Purpose Unit contracts were for 3 years. Following an open competition, the APU contracts were let for 2 years from April 1999.

2.17 The PU contracts are run by Operating Companies (OCs) who carry out all aspects of cyclic, routine, winter and emergency (current) maintenance work and structural (capital) maintenance work up to £100k. All structural maintenance work between £100k and £3m is designed by the OC but then put out to competitive tender. The OCs won their contracts under competitive tendering arrangements between consortia of various public and private sector service providers. All contracts were won by local authority consortia.

2.18 The APUs are managed and supervised by Management Agents (MAs). All cyclic, routine, winter and emergency maintenance work is carried out by local authorities under Agency Agreements. The local authorities deliver their commitments under the auspices of Best Value. All structural maintenance work is designed by the MA and then put out to competitive tender. The MAs won their contracts under competitive tendering arrangements between public and private sector service providers. All the initial MA contracts were won by local authorities. Three of the new MA contracts were won by the same consortia with the other two being won by the private sector.

2.19 A review of the arrangements for trunk road management and maintenance was initiated in April 1999 with the publication of a consultation paper, The Road Ahead ⁵. The responses are now being considered. The aim of this exercise is to improve efficiency and effectiveness by applying experience gained and lessons learned through the current arrangements. There will be a particular focus on the development of performance/output specifications so that value for money can be more clearly demonstrated.

2.20 Repair and maintenance work is planned and scheduled in a way that minimises disruption to road users. The current method is based on the Code of Practice: The Reduction of Traffic Delays of Roadworks philosophy which won an AA Gold Award in the early 1990s. This concept, in particular, advanced the need to pre-plan works, to reduce the amount of time a contractor occupies a section of road, to minimise the reduction in road capacity caused by roadworks and to disseminate information to the public about them.

2.21 Techniques are currently being developed to improve this process through advanced modelling techniques to improve the scheduling of works and the use of computer aided design of roadworks to help with the most complicated and potentially disruptive schemes. The aim is continually to improve how we manage the process of carrying out works on the network to minimise the additional impact they have in the face of increasing congestion.

2.22 A Performance Audit Group (PAG) was set up in April 1996 when the APU and PU contracts were first let. The Group is a consortium of engineers and accountants and they won their commission (for a period of 7 years) through competitive tendering procedures. Their main function is to ensure that the Units provide the specified levels of service; ensure that financial probity is maintained; and ensure value for money is maximised.

2.23 PAG has helped improve the level of service provided to the travelling public by, for example, ensuring that the Units comply with set down standards for carrying out work safely and ensuring that the Units comply with winter and routine standards. Financial probity and value for money has also been improved through, for example, ensuring that the Units' invoices are accurate, and monitoring spend levels against the amount of work that has been ordered.

Travel Choices for Scotland: Strategic Roads Review

Chapter 2

Maintaining the Network - A Key Priority