Highways Winter Readiness Programme

The locations we have visited are: 

Abbotsley

Bottisham

Buckden

Burwell

Cambridge City

Chatteris

Great Gransden

Kimbolton

March

Offord Cluny

Waresley

Wisbech

Yelling

The Winter Readiness Programme is a targeted programme of preventative highway maintenance designed to strengthen sections of the road network before winter weather. The programme focuses on interventions such as patching, crack sealing and other surface repairs to rectify safety defects on the network.

Preventative maintenance helps stop roads deteriorating to the point where major repairs or complete reconstruction are needed.

Treating a road at the appropriate stage of its life is generally quicker and more cost-effective than waiting for widespread structural failure. It also allows the Council to protect a greater length of the highway network with the available resources.

A data led approach is being used to determine these locations. The range of information includes:

• Highway condition surveys
• Asset management data
• Safety inspection records
• Traffic volumes and road usage
• Local network intelligence
• Deterioration trends and risk assessments

This helps ensure investment is targeted where it can provide the greatest benefit and prevent further deterioration.

Not necessarily.

The purpose of the programme is to deliver the treatment that has been assessed as appropriate for the road. This does not automatically mean that every visible defect or adjoining area will be treated during the same visit.

Some defects may:

• require a different material or repair technique;
• need a specialist gang or piece of equipment;
• require separate traffic management;
• be located outside the approved treatment area;
• need further investigation before repair;
• already be included in another programme; or
• be monitored because they do not currently meet the Council’s intervention criteria.

Safety-related defects will continue to be assessed and managed through the Council’s highway inspection and defect-repair arrangements.

Centre lines, junctions and areas where vehicles turn, brake or accelerate can be subject to different stresses from the remainder of the carriageway.

These locations may also require different working methods because:

• traffic needs to be managed from more than one direction;
• access to adjoining roads or properties must be maintained;
• vehicles place greater turning and braking forces on the surface;
• a different repair depth, material or treatment may be required;
• road markings, traffic signals, drainage or utility covers may be affected;
• the work may require a road closure, temporary signals or an overnight working window; or
• the area may need to be completed by a separate specialist crew.

Treating these areas separately can provide a more durable repair and reduce the risk of the new treatment failing prematurely.

An area not treated during the first visit has not necessarily been forgotten. It may be subject to a separate assessment, repair or later phase of work.

Although it can appear inefficient, separate visits can make better use of specialist resources.

For example, one team may complete preparatory patching, another may apply the main preventative treatment, and a further team may return to reinstate road markings or complete specialist junction work.

Trying to carry out every activity during one visit could mean specialist crews and expensive equipment waiting on site while other work is completed. It could also require longer road closures and cause greater disruption.

Planned separate visits allow the Council and its contractors to:

• use each specialist team efficiently;
• complete similar work across several nearby roads;
• reduce waiting time for crews and equipment;
• apply the right treatment to each part of the road;
• work within permit and traffic-management restrictions;
• allow materials to cure before the next operation; and
• reduce the duration of individual closures or restrictions.

The important measure is the overall cost, quality and durability of the completed work—not simply the number of times a vehicle or crew attends the road.

The treatment will depend on the condition of the road, its construction, traffic use and expected remaining life. Treatments may include:

Preparatory patching
Localised sections of failed material are removed and replaced before the main treatment is applied.

Specialist junction or centre-line repairs
Areas subject to heavier turning or braking forces may receive a different or deeper treatment to improve durability.

Crack sealing
Sealing of cracks in the rod surface to prevent water ingress, leading to the formation of potholes.

Mastic Screed
Repairing potholes or groups of potholes and overlaying with a waterproof screed to seal the road surface and prevent further deterioration

Not every treatment will be appropriate for every road.

Roads are selected using a combination of condition information, inspections, safety considerations, treatment suitability, traffic use, available funding and coordination with other planned works.

Preventative maintenance is most effective before a road has failed completely. A road that looks worse may already require a more substantial and costly scheme that cannot be addressed through the preventative programme.

The programme therefore balances immediate need with the opportunity to prevent other roads from becoming significantly more expensive to repair.

Some loose chippings are expected immediately after surface dressing. The road may be swept after treatment and may receive further sweeping where required.

Temporary speed restrictions and warning signs may remain while the new surface settles. Drivers should follow the signed speed limit to reduce the risk of displaced chippings and allow the treatment to establish properly.

Where treatment affects road markings, a specialist lining team may need to return after the new surface has settled or cured.

The timing will depend on the treatment, weather and operational requirements. Important temporary controls will be considered as part of the traffic-management and hand back arrangements.

Highway treatments can be sensitive to rain, temperature, surface moisture and other weather conditions. Work may also be affected by emergency highway repairs, utility works, plant availability, traffic-management requirements or unforeseen site conditions.

Where a change is necessary, the programme will be updated and significant changes will be communicated through the appropriate channels.

The Council and its delivery partners will seek to minimise disruption by:

• grouping work geographically;
• selecting suitable working times;
• coordinating with other highway and utility activities;
• maintaining access wherever it is safe and practical;
• using overnight working on strategic roads where appropriate;
• providing advance warning and signed diversions where required; and
• reopening roads as soon as it is safe to do so.

Some inconvenience is unavoidable, but planned preventative maintenance should reduce the need for longer and more disruptive reconstruction work in the future.

Councillors and Parish Councils can help by:

• sharing programme information through local communication channels;
• encouraging residents to observe temporary restrictions and traffic management;
• making the Council aware of significant local events or access requirements;
• directing defect reports through the Council’s established reporting system; and
• recognising that different phases of work may be completed by different specialist teams.

Where possible, our works will be carried out under rolling traffic management. 

For more complex locations, that require significant traffic management, we may need to use lane closures, temporary traffic lights or road closures.

Traffic management requirements will be assessed individually for each site to ensure work can be completed safely.