Council driving through cuts to highway repairs
Readers have their say on the roads Page 9
GRASS trimming, bollard repairs and footpath maintenance are all in the firing line as Leicestershire County Council looks to save £10 million from its highways budget by 2020.
The cash-strapped authority is in the middle of a public consultation on what residents see as priorities in the upkeep of roads, pavements, verges and landscaping, as well as street furniture such as lampposts, speed bumps, drains and cycle routes.
The aim is to help council officials decide what items they can ditch, which they could offload onto others and which can be retained but on a less frequent repair schedule.
In 2015/16 the council spent £26 million maintaining roads either directly or through contractors. By 2020 it needs to slash this to £16.5 million.
The consultation document sets out how the authority is looking to future, saying it will reduce, share or end the maintenance of some items.
The burden of care may then fall on district and parish councils or even community groups. One idea being tested is the resurrection of a Victorian arrangement to employ a ‘lengthsman’.
These were men paid by parish councils who looked after a certain stretch of road, railway or canal, keeping verges down, drains clear and carrying out minor repairs.
The role died out during the 20th century as county councils took over more infrastructure responsibilities.
In modern times the practice has been adopted again by some local councils who employ a lengthsman to carry out maintenance tasks identified by the local community and/ or sub-contract the work to local providers.
County councils often offer some funding for the role with other money coming from the district involved.
Introducing highway wardens is another suggestion. These are volunteers who act as a liaison between the local community and the county council highways services and who may also take on minor maintenance tasks themselves.
Leicestershire County Council looks after 2,575 miles of road, inspect the network annually. Around 180 miles of road are upgraded each year while 45% of roads are gritted in the winter, verges are cut six times a year in the spring and summer and more than 135,000 drains and 80,000 traffic signs are checked and maintained.
Councillor Peter Osborne, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “Before we produce a new strategy for how we look after our roads, pavements and verges, we want to find out what people value and whether they have any thoughts on how we can make changes.”
According to council figures it costs £150 to replace a damaged bollard, £200 to replace one panel of pedestrian railing and around £135,000 to reconstruct one mile of little-used but poor quality country pathway.
The authority also spends more than £900,000 on cutting grass verges, £45,000 on looking after flower beds, £540,000 looking after traffic lights, more than £1 million every 18 months clearing drains, £400,000 replacing white lines, £200,000 replacing damaged road signs and £7,500 for every pair of speed cushions constructed.
The consultation runs until September 25. Visit www.leicestershire.gov. uk/highwaysconsultation