Report of the Deputy Chief Executive

This item seeks to address issues that the Committee had asked officers to report on, namely the communications associated with highway works, the planning and delivery of pavement and footway maintenance and the management of traffic flow across the city.

This written report focuses on the first two of these issues. It explains how planned maintenance work on pavements and footways is communicated to local residents and businesses and how the programme of footpath and pavement maintenance is developed and agreed.

A separate presentation will be given at the meeting by officers from both Transport for Greater Manchester and the City Council on the management of traffic flow. This will include an explanation of how roadworks are planned and what measures are taken to respond to events and incidents to try to ensure that traffic flow is effectively managed.  

The Committee considered the report of the Deputy Chief Executive that provided information on the communications associated with highway works and the planning and delivery of pavement and footway maintenance. In addition to the written report the Committee received a presentation from officers from both Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and the City Council on the management of traffic flow. This included an explanation of how roadworks were planned and what measures were taken to respond to events and incidents to try to ensure that traffic flow is effectively managed.  

Officers referred to the main points and themes within the report which included: -

·         Information on the Highways Communication Strategy;

·         Information on roads and footway inspections undertaken in order to identify all defects likely to create danger or serious inconvenience to users of the network or the wider community;

·         Information on the planned programmes of footway maintenance work that were developed to prioritise the worst condition footways on the Key Route Network (KRN) and Community Network (CN) and tie in with the road resurfacing programme where possible.  Works involved resurfacing or overlay of the existing footway, with kerb replacement where required; and

·         Information on how TfGM who had responsibility for the day to day management of the Urban Traffic Control system including the installation and maintenance of traffic signals manage this across the city.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were: -

·         The reported estimated footway that needed repair was a significant amount and was the resources allocated to deliver the scale of works required sufficient;

·         Was any of the income generated from pop up events used to repair any damage caused to the pathway;

·         The condition of the footways was not user friendly for any resident with a disability and would not pass the age friendly test, especially around district centres;

·         The length of time to repair defective footways was too long in many cases; and

·         Traffic flow needed to be better coordinated, especially when major events are taking place in the city to minimise the impact on residents.

The Head of Citywide Highways said that he acknowledged the comments regarding the condition of footways, however those conditions were not as challenging as the highway conditions. He advised that they had inherited a backlog of repair work however he was confident that improvements to the footway conditions would be delivered and emergency repairs would always be prioritised. In response to a comment from a Member he commented that inspections of district centres would be undertaken.

The Chair requested that the planned programme of repair work for footways be circulated to Members.

In response to a concern expressed by Members regarding the impact of planned major works scheduled to start in 2019 on both congestion and air quality, the Director of Operations (Highways) advised that a review of the planning for this had already begun. He described that the traffic modelling of these works was being done TfGM so this could then inform the scheduling of the planned work to minimise disruption.

The Head of Highways, TfGM commented that if Members wished to visit the TfGM Control Room this could be arranged.

The Chair invited Members to contact her directly with any issues or concerns regarding the issue of traffic flow management and she would then meet with officers to progress bringing a report back to the Committee at an appropriate time. 

Decisions

The Committee: -

1. Requests that the planned programme of repair work for footways be circulated to Members.

2. Agree that Members contact the Chair directly with any issues or concerns regarding the management of traffic flow management and she would then meet with officers to progress bringing a report back to the Committee at an appropriate time.