Cyclic Maintenance
Cyclic maintenance activities are tasks generally carried out at regular intervals and are necessary to keep the network operational, safe and tidy.
Examples include, gully cleaning, sign cleaning and grass cutting. Litter picking and channel sweeping are carried out by the OCs on motorways and special roads, but are the responsibility of local councils on all other trunk roads.
TheOCs are paid fixed monthly sums for doing all the required cyclic maintenance operations. To ensure value, it is therefore important to check the work is not only carried out, but is also to an acceptable standard.
2.2 Maintenance
2.2.1 Cyclic maintenance
NE – BEAR
BEAR’s grass cutting was not to the required standards at the beginning of the season and PAG issued a NNC to the OC. This resulted in an improvement in the OC’s performance in the second half of the year and the NNC being closed.
Extensive shrub and tree cutting was carried out across the Unit during the year. This has improved visibility, as well as creating a tidier looking Unit.
BEAR was very active in the removal of litter and debris from M90. Litter picking by local councils has also improved this year.
Despite regular clearing, a few litter hotspots continue to quickly gather litter accumulations in both OC and local authority areas.
The OC carried out gully cleaning and grip cutting across the Unit, although localised flooding continues to be an issue in a few areas during periods of heavy rain. BEAR has investigated many locations where there is a persistent flooding issue and identified problems with the drainage infrastructure. Action continues to be taken by the OC, including installing more efficient drainage where possible.
SE - BEAR
BEAR’s standard of grass cutting was initially poor. Although standards rose during the season, there is still room for further improvement.
The OC carried out gully cleaning across the Unit, with more frequent cleaning to proactively treat areas of known flooding.
The OC also performed well in the treatment of injurious weeds including Giant Hogweed, Ragwort and
Japanese Knotweed.
Although BEAR has reacted promptly and thoroughly to notifications of litter accumulations, it did not apply sufficient resources to maintain a good visual amenity across the motorways and special roads. This will continue to be monitored by Transport Scotland and PAG.
NW – Scotland TranServ
Similar to last year, Scotland TranServ had problems with grass cutting during the early part of the season resulting in a NNC being issued. Following this, the OC’s performance improved during the middle and latter part of the season.
The lack of road channel sweeping by the responsible local authorities continues to be problematic in NW.
SW – Amey
After a slow start, the OC carried out its grass cutting obligations to a good standard throughout the year.
Amey has carried out extensive litter picking on the motorway routes throughout the year. A few litter hotspots and landscaped areas remain problematic, particularly along the M8 corridor in Glasgow.
