FOI Request Cycle Path Categorisation
Request 101001474539
We wish to enquire about the systems of safety inspection and maintenance you had in place as at 11 December 2013 for cycle routes which were owned or adopted by you for maintenance purposes. In terms of the above Act, we should be grateful if you would confirm the following:
1. As at 11 December 2013, were your cycle routes categorised with reference to the Well-Maintained Highways – Code of Practice for Highway Maintenance 2005, namely into one of three categories: Cycle Route – Part of Carriageway; Cycle Route-Remote from Carriageway; and Cycle Route – Cycle Trails? If not, how were they categorised?
2. For each of your categories of cycle route, as at 11 December 2013, did you have a pro-active system of inspection and maintenance (i.e. an inspector of your council would inspect the cycle route at defined intervals and report back to you any actionable defects) or was the system reactive (i.e. you would only attend to inspect and thereafter rectify once t was reported to you by a member of the public, the police and/or another body)?
3. If the system was pro-active, please answer the following:
(a) As at 11 December 2013, what frequency of safety inspection did you deem appropriate for each category of cycle route?
(b) As at 11 December 2013, how were safety inspections of each category of cycle route carried out (i.e. by foot, by cycle or by vehicle along adjacent roadways)?
4. If the system was reactive, please answer the following:
(a) As at 11 December 2013, what was your timescale for attending to inspect a defect which required to be repaired on each category of cycle route?
5. As at 11 December 2013, what criteria did you use to identify an actionable defect which required to be repaired on each category of cycle route?
6. As at 11 December 2013, what were your timescales for repairing actionable defects on each category of cycle route once the defects were identified?
Response 28-04-2017
1. Our cycle tracks are categorised as either (a) remote cycle tracks, or (b) cycle tracks that are contiguous with the carriageway
2. All our cycle tracks are inspected as part of a scheduled safety inspection route. Additional ad-hoc inspection may be required if defects are reported to us between scheduled inspections.
3 (a). The frequency of inspection is determined by the maintenance hierarchy assigned to each cycle track. Our inspection frequencies range from fortnightly to annual. Most cycle tracks are Hierarchy 3, so should receive an annual safety inspection, however many receive a higher frequency inspection for the reason stated below. We carry out safety inspections on a road/street basis, and will always inspect all elements (i.e. carriageway, footway, cycle track etc) when we visit. So, where the maintenance hierarchies of these elements differ, and therefore the corresponding inspection frequency are also different, we will carry out safety inspections on all elements at the highest (i.e. most often) frequency. Our inspection frequencies for each hierarchy can be found within our Roads Asset Management Plan which is available online at www.moray.gov.uk/RAMP (see page 15 of the Footways Lifecycle Plan)
3 (b).All urban safety inspections are walked. Rural safety inspections are driven by slow moving vehicle and any adjacent footway or cycle track is inspected at the same time i.e. inspected from the adjacent carriageway. Rural cycle tracks which are either set back or remote from the carriageway are walked.
4a. Our system is pro-active, however there is still a reactive element if defects are reported to us between our scheduled inspections. We have no set timescale for an initial attendance to reported defects – each individual case is assessed, and prioritised. Reported defects are generally inspected within 2 working days of receipt.
5. This information can be found within our Roads Asset Management Plan which is available online at www.moray.gov.uk/RAMP (see page 18 of the Footways Lifecycle Plan)
6. This information can be found within our Roads Asset Management Plan which is available online at www.moray.gov.uk/RAMP (see page 18 of the Footways Lifecycle Plan)