Maintenance, policy, and accidents of A77 road: EIR release
Information request and response under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.
Information requested
I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act relating to a road your authority is responsible for maintaining. Specifically, my query relates to the A77T
Please can you send me:
1. A copy of your current road maintenance policy relating to that road. Please send me the full policy, but this should include details of the intended frequency of road safety inspections, how these inspections should be conducted and the maximum time between identification of a defect and repairs being carried out.
2. A copy of the road repair history for that road over the past year. Again, please send me the full road repair history, but this should include:
- dates of all safety inspections between 1 st January 2018 - 31 st March 2019
- details of how safety inspections were undertaken (walked or driven, speed of inspection vehicle etc)
- details of all carriageway defects identified, with description, date and time
- details of how the authority handled these defects, what repairs were undertaken and the time between the identification of each defect and a repair being carried out.
3. I would like a list of road traffic accidents on A77 over the past ten years. Including, if you hold this information:
- whether RTC was slight or serious
- whether fatal
- whether HGV involved
- how many individuals involved
- (rough) locations
Response
As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.
This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.
I have numbered our response for ease of reference.
1. The Scottish Ministers Requirements set out in the 4th Generation Term Contracts are a bespoke set of requirements specific to the management and maintenance of the Scottish Trunk Road Network. The requirements meet or exceed the standards set out in the national codes of practice. Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.
The 4th Generation Term Contract for management and maintenance of the Scottish Trunk Road Network which also contains details of the inspections and surveys that are carried out by our operating company, Scotland Transerv can be viewed with the following web link: https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/35900/sw-combi.pdf
Our 4G contract and Road Asset Management Plan sets out Transport Scotland's approach to the maintenance of the trunk road network. The Road Asset Management Plan is available online at;
https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/road-asset-management-plan-for-scottish-trunk-roads-january-2016.
- Schedule 7: Part 1 of the contract provides an overview of inspections and surveys.
- Schedule 7: Part 2: Section 2.7 of the contract provides details of inspections and their frequency during winter.
- Schedule 7: Part 6: Section 3 of the contract details the inspections and their frequency for Structures.
Procedures for rectifying defects are categorised as Category 1 and 2 defects. Please see below the definition as per the 4th Generation Term Contract for management and maintenance of the Scottish Trunk Road Network;
"Category 1 Defect" means a Defect that necessitates prompt attention because it presents:
(i) an immediate or imminent hazard, or
(ii) a risk of rapid structural deterioration to the affected element.
"Category 2 Defect" means any Defect which is not a Category 1 Defect."
In addition, the following extract is taken from Schedule 7 Part 1 of the 4th Generation Term Contract for Management and Maintenance of the Scottish Trunk Road Network:
"2. DEFECT CATEGORIES AND RESPONSE TIMES
2.1 Classification of Category 1 and Category 2 Defects
2.1.1 When classifying Category 1 and Category 2 Defects, the Operating Company shall give consideration to the potential impact on all road users including motorists, pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, equestrians and disabled users.
2.1.2 The Operating Company shall comply with the provisions of the Transport Scotland Trunk Road Inspection Manual regarding classification of Defects.
2.1.3 The Transport Scotland Trunk Road Inspection Manual is deemed not to contain an exhaustive compendium of Defects. In the absence of a description of a Defect in the Transport Scotland Trunk Road Inspection Manual, the Operating Company shall make the classification from first principles."
The following extract is taken from Schedule 7, Part 1 of the 4th Generation Term Contract for management and maintenance of the Scottish Trunk Road Network and details the timescales for repairing defects:
"2.2 Category 1 Defects Response Times
2.2.1 Unless stated otherwise in this Part, Category 1 Defects shall be dealt with by the Operating Company in priority order as stated in paragraph 2.2 of this Part.
2.2.2 The Operating Company's inspection team or initial Incident Response Resources shall make the Category 1 Defect safe when identified. This shall be through executing immediate repairs, removing the hazard or by taking any other measures necessary to protect the public and other users of the Unit.
2.2.3 Where a Category 1 Defect renders a Trunk Road unsafe for road users, the Operating Company shall, under Police instruction or on receipt of an appropriate Order, close the relevant part of the Trunk Road for as short a period as possible while remedial action is undertaken.
2.2.4 Where a Category 1 Defect cannot be repaired immediately or the hazard cannot be removed, the Operating Company shall take action to make the area safe until the required temporary or permanent repairs have been completed.
2.2.5 The temporary or permanent repairs shall be undertaken as soon as possible and no later than:
(i) on the day following identification for Category 1 Defects on carriageways, and
(ii) within 24 hours of identification for all other Category 1 Defects.
2.2.6 Where a temporary repair has been carried out, the deferred permanent repair period for the following Defect types shall be:
(i) 28 days for carriageway surface, and
(i) 56 days for Bridge parapets.
2.2.7 All other Category 1 Defects shall be repaired permanently within the specific period referred to in this Part, or no later than 28 days after identification where no specific period is stated."
2. Please refer to Annex A which is the weekly inspection defect report for 1st January 2018 - 31st March 2019 and which includes repair dates as appropriate. The response to Question 1 (above) also addresses your query on "how the authority handled these defects".
3. Please refer to Annex B of this request which is a list of road traffic accidents on A77 over the past ten years.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Contact
Please quote the FOI reference
Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrews House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
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