Winter Service Plan 2008-9 (Abridged Version)
6.0 Where is the service provided?
6.1 The risk assessment process, as recommended by the code, provides a ranking to which the limit of priority treatment can be applied and establishes the order in which roads will be post-treated and snow cleared.
6.2 It is most important to clarify that the process does not provide an absolute determination of coverage limits. The limit is determined by financial constraints and operational (route design) issues. The process ensures that the risk is assessed across the whole road network and subsequent application of a “sliding cursor”, governed only by funding, will dictate coverage in a balanced manner.
6.3 The code recommends that the Network Hierarchy for Winter Service should take as its starting point the Road Hierarchy used for maintenance purposes. This list was then modified to take account of:
- Wider Transport and other Policy Priorities
- Remote communities
- Known problem areas (hills, bends, exposed areas)
- Climatic and thermal differences within routes (e.g. cold spots)
- Co-ordination with other authorities
- Accident history
- Inconsistency - i.e. the elimination of gaps in logical journeys, both for the travelling public and treatment vehicles
The most significant modification occurs as a result of consideration of school bus routes, emergency service requirements and service bus routes within “Wider Transport and other Policy Priorities”. Thus roads having a low position on the roads hierarchy may be included because of such traffic. The remaining factors are less significant and will have an effect in combination with the above fundamental influence only when roads would otherwise be equally rated.
6.4 Neighbouring road authorities have been consulted to ensure consistency. As a result longstanding “over-lap” arrangements to facilitate cross boundary travel will be continued and are included in the first priority routes.
6.5 Application of the above criteria has resulted in a list of routes prioritised into ‘first’ and 'second’ priority. Details of these routes can be obtained by e-mailing Roads and Fleet Management.
6.6 Footway treatment routes have been designed using a risk assessment process.
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