Transcript Winter Maintenance - Leicestershire Community Forums

Leicestershire County Council
Winter Maintenance Service
2010/11
Winter Maintenance
 Statutory Responsibilities & Winter
Maintenance Plan
 How the service is carried out
 Review of previous winters
 National context
 Clearing footways
 Grit Bins & Snow wardens
Winter Maintenance
Statutory Responsibilities
Highways Act 1980 (as amended)
 Section 41 – Duty to maintain the highway
 Plus – Duty to ensure that snow and ice
do not hinder safe passage along the
highway, so far as is reasonably
practicable.
 Section 150 – Duty to remove snow if it is
causing an obstruction
Winter Maintenance
The LCC Winter Maintenance Plan
 Set criteria for roads to be salted
 Prepare a network of routes based on those
criteria
 Agree the method by which we’ll salt roads
and/or clear snow
 Set up ice sensors, weather stations and
forecasting arrangements to predict bad
weather
 Make sure we’ve got enough salt, vehicles, fuel
and drivers
Winter Maintenance
Precautionary Salting Network
 Main Distributor roads
 Commuter routes
(rural roads carrying
more than 2,000
vehicles per day)
 Major bus routes
(urban areas 8 or
more service buses an
hour, rural areas 2
more service buses
per hour)
 One route into each
village, where possible
Winter Maintenance
Precautionary salting network
 45% of total LCC network (1,800km out of
4,000km)
 Currently treating with salt with molasses
additive (dry salt spreading)
 5 salt barns in depots around the county
 17 salting routes out of these 5 depots
 23 gritters in total (1 spare at each salt barn and
1 extra)
Winter Maintenance
Decision to salt
 Based on most up-to-date local forecasts
 Weather stations around the county
 Ice-prediction detectors embedded in the
highway at critical locations
Winter Maintenance Period
 1 October to 30 April
 Night shift from 1 November to 31 March
 Night controllers make call-out decisions
Winter Maintenance
Review of recent winters
Salt usage (in tonnes)
Total salt usage
05/06
06/07
07/08
08/09
09/10
12,500
7,520
7,900
16,425
16,600
Number of salting ‘runs’
Full Season Total
05/06
06/07
07/08
08/09
09/10
46
34
42
70
72
Winter Maintenance
Winter 09/10
 Worst for over 30 years
 Undertook 72 gritter runs
 Used 16,600 tonnes of
salt
 Despite national shortage
managed to secure
additional salt supplies
from Europe
 Provided mutual aid to
Derbyshire and East
Midlands Airport
Winter Maintenance
Liaison with other organisations - Mainly through the
Local Resilience Forum (LRF)
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Leicestershire Police
Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service
East Midlands Ambulance Service
Leicester City NHS & Leicestershire & Rutland County NHS
University Hospitals of Leicester (UHL)
Health Protection Agency (HPA)
Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust
Environment Agency
Local Authorities: Blaby DC, Charnwood BC, Harborough
DC, Hinckley & Bosworth BC, Melton BC, North West
Leicestershire DC, Oadby & Wigston BC, Rutland CC,
Leicester City Council
Winter Maintenance
District and Borough Councils in Leicestershire
 BCs and DCs have street cleaning & parks operatives
who are restricted from carrying out normal functions in
times of snow and ice
 At present, ad-hoc arrangements exist whereby the
Districts and Boroughs deploy their workforce to clear
town centre / shopping centre areas
Parish Councils in Leicestershire
 Assist in the provision of grit bins (see later slides)
 Arrange snow wardens
Winter Maintenance
Major issues
 Supply of salt – there are only 2 UK mainland
producers
 Western Europe was also badly affected last
year, hence likelihood of importing salt is
much reduced
 Inaccurate weather forecasts – particularly
poor in 09/10
 Ageing gritter fleet – being addressed
Winter Maintenance
Clearing Footways
 There has been Public concern over the
condition of footways in the recent severe
winters
 The precautionary salting network does not
extend to footways that are not adjacent to the
main road network
 When resources are available, priority is given
to main shopping areas, outside hospitals,
schools, elderly persons’ homes etc.
 Fear of litigation is a barrier to self-help
Winter Maintenance
Clearing Footways
 There has been confusion amongst the public
about the steps they can take to help themselves
and others in tackling snow and ice
 The County Council has prepared advice for
private householders, schools and commercial
organisations, for example shop keepers, on the
clearance of snow and ice from public footpaths.
 When this advice is followed, the chance of
litigation is minimal
Winter Maintenance
Salt / Grit Bins
Salt bins will be provided by the County Council in village
and urban areas, provided that:
(a) the location is not on a precautionary salting route;
(b) the location of and need for the bin is first agreed with
the County Council and adjacent residents;
(c) the cost of the salt bin is met by the local Parish/Town
council or, in non-parished town and areas by the
District or Borough Council.
Requests for grit bins should be forwarded to the
Customer Service Centre or the Area Offices in the
first instance.
Winter Maintenance
Salt / Grit Bins
 Parish or District Councils are responsible for
replacing the bins in case of damage
 County Council will re-fill bins at intervals
deemed appropriate by LCC and depending
on resources
 Guidance on possible locations is available
 Complaints raised by local residents, parish
councils and snow wardens, that many salt
bins are quickly emptied
Winter Maintenance
Snow Wardens
Parish Council employees must be
covered by PC Public Liability Insurance
to enable them to act as Snow Wardens.
Actions will be agreed with LCC about how
those local resources will be used.
Snow Wardens will help to clear snow from
public footways in agreed locally
sensitive locations.
Winter Maintenance
Snow Wardens
 The County Council is keen to extend the
network of Parish Councils participating in the
Snow Warden Scheme
 Any Parish Council that can show a need for
such an appointment, should submit a request
to join the scheme
 If confirmed, the County Council will
reimburse the Parish Council for time spent on
agreed tasks
Contact Information
0116 3050001
www.leics.gov/gritting