Road repair history of M8 Westbound at the Kingston Bridge and J20: EIR release
Information request and response under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004
Information requested
In relation to the M8 Westbound at the Kingston Bridge and J20:
"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 25/01/21 and 25/03/21
- 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."
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.
To aid with my response I have retained the numbering from your request above.
1. The information you have requested is available from our website at Road Asset Management Plan for Scottish Trunk Roads, January 2016 (transport.gov.scot).
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.
2. Please see Annexes A and B to this response for copies of inspection records and carriageway defects identified. The attached safety inspection reports list the defects noted on this section of road. For carriageway defects the Operating Company has until 06:00 the following morning to carry out a temporary repair then 28 days from the date of noting the defect to carry out a permanent repair.
Weekly safety inspections and Patrols are carried out in a van with an inspector and driver. Speeds of the inspection vehicle on this section of the busy M8 motorway are dictated by the speed of normal traffic as a slow-moving inspection vehicle can introduce safety issues.
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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