Overview
This policy has been developed with the primary aim of providing direction to those involved in undertaking highway safety inspections so that they may carry out their duties with consistency and to clearly recognised and understood criteria.
The information contained within this policy sets out the practices in terms of the inspection hierarchy, investigatory levels, frequency of inspection and response times to repair.
A new national Code of Practice, Well managed Highway Infrastructure (WMHI) was published on 28 October 2016 and this sets out the recommended approach to managing highway assets. The code recommends: ‘In the interest of route consistency for highway users, all authorities, including strategic, local, combined and those in alliances, are encouraged to collaborate in determining levels of service, especially across boundaries with neighbours responsible for strategic and local highway networks’.
In accordance with this recommendation, this policy has been informed by collaborative discussions with the four other Tyne & Wear metropolitan highway authorities and therefore aims to ensure a consistent approach across boundaries with regards to the inspection hierarchy, investigatory levels, frequency of inspection and response times for repair.
The following authorities collaborated in the production of this document:
- North Tyneside Council
- South Tyneside Council
- Gateshead Council
- Newcastle City Council
- Sunderland City Council