Leicestershire County Council

Winter Maintenance

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

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

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)

Number of salting ‘runs’

05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10

Full Season Total 46 34 42 70 72

05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10

Total salt usage 12,500 7,520 7,900 16,425 16,600

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)

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

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 is confusion amongst the public about the steps they can take to help themselves and others in tackling snow and ice

The County Council is preparing advice to issue to private householders, schools and commercial organisations, for example shop keepers, on the clearance of snow and ice from public footpaths.

When advice followed, the chance of litigation is minimal

Winter Maintenance

Salt / Grit Bins

Salt bins are provided by the County Council in village and urban areas, provided that: (a) the route is not on a precautionary salting route; (b) the location of and need for the bin is first agreed with

the County Council; (c) the cost of any additional salt bin is met, in parished

areas by the local Parish/Town council or in non-parished towns by the District or Borough Council.

Parish / District council 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

Winter Maintenance

Salt / Grit Bins

Complaints raised by local residents, parish councils and snow wardens, that many salt bins are quickly emptied as some members of the public use the salt to clear their own drives rather than the public highway and footpaths as intended.

Will allow for bins to be locked to ensure the salt is used more efficiently and in appropriate areas in future – subject to a standard padlock being used to enable LCC to refill them

Any arrangements to lock the bins should not unduly inhibit voluntary assistance: ie by the contact details of those authorised to open them noted on the bin.

Winter Maintenance

Snow Wardens Parish Council employees covered by

Parish Council Public Liability Insurance may be proposed as Snow Wardens by Parish Councils:

To establish agreed actions with LCC about how local resources will be used

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 to ensure that localised areas of difficulty are dealt with more effectively.

Any Parish Council that can show a need for such an appointment, can put forward a request to join the scheme.

If agreed, the PC will be reimbursed by the County Council for time spent on previously agreed tasks.

Contact Information0116 3050001

www.leics.gov.uk