County Council sets out highway maintenance programme

Devon County Council’s Cabinet has approved the authority’s programme of highway maintenance for the financial year.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has awarded the Council £51.4 million for its capital budget in 2017/18. This includes allocations from the Pothole Action Fund, National Productivity Investment Fund, Incentive Fund and Challenge Fund, which will be used for planned structural maintenance on Devon’s 8,000 miles of roads - the biggest highway network of any authority in the country.

The maintenance programme includes £9.8 million for schemes on roads with a large number of potholes and structural defects. This will include the A379 Sandygate roundabout Exeter, A388 Saltrens in Bideford, A381 East Allington, A380 Ware Barton (south bound) in Kingsteignton, A39 Alwington, A379 Brixton Road in Yealmpton, A377 Old Exeter Road in Bishops Tawton, A381 Wolborough Street in Newton Abbot, A3124 Cocktree in Sampford Courtenay and A3052 Sidford.

Around £8.6 million will be spent on surface dressing and patching, £1.7 million will be used to keep footways in a safe condition, £1.3 million will be invested in improving skid resistance on some of the county’s A-roads, and £900,000 has been earmarked to upgrade and replace safety barriers.

A £1.1 million schedule of drainage upgrading and repair will be carried out on major roads and the winter salting network. Work will also be completed on the £10.2 million scheme to provide LED street lighting on all main roads.

Around £6.75 million will be spent on bridges and structures. This will include corrosion protection at Landcross Viaduct, replacing joints on the A361 bridge over the River Torridge.

Strengthening work will be carried out on a number of structures including Crediton Station Leat, Hornshayes Bridge near Stockland, and Pattard Bridge near Hartland. Railings will also be refurbished on the south Exe Bridge in Exeter.

Funding has also been set aside for detailed design and, subject to approval, start of construction of a replacement for Alma Bridge in Sidmouth, which was damaged in 2012.

C-roads and unclassified roads make up 87% of Devon’s road network, and the report to the County Council’s Cabinet highlights that almost a quarter of these roads need immediate maintenance. It also states that the settlement from the DfT, “provides insufficient capital funding to meet all network maintenance needs”.

The maintenance programme is available at http://democracy.devon.gov.uk/documents/s7060/HCW1734.pdf