I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act relating to a road your authority is responsible for maintaining.
Specifically, my query relates to the old Barnstaple to South Molton road, specifically the section between Swimbridge to Filleigh. The location of the incident being between Farthing Lake Cross and Hendon Cross.
Please can you send me:
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.
This can be seen online at Highway Safety Policy
2. A copy of any variations to this policy (specifically relating to enhanced safety inspections and shortened repairs schedules) put in place because the aforementioned road is being used as the main diversionary route from and to, South Molton to Barnstaple whilst the A361 highway improvements are being conducted.
This road remains subject to a formal 6 monthly driven safety inspection, most recently having taken place on the 24th July 2023. In addition to this we will respond to any reports of
pothole defects through our triage process, which sees all reports receive a visit by an inspector to determine an appropriate response.
3. A copy of the road repair history for that road over the past year. Again, please send me the full road repair history, this should specifically include:
– dates of all safety inspections between the 18/09/2023 and the 17/11/2023.
– 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.
This information is available online at Inspections
4. A list of the number of individual reports by the public to the council related to the offending pot hole and the subsequent number of claims by motorists, the council has received during the period from the 18/09/2023 to the 30/11/2023 in respect of Pothole related vehicle damage on the aforementioned stretch (1 mile either side of the incident location) of road.
This information is available online at Enquiries
5. A list of the number of claims identified in point 4 (above) which the council has paid out, in part or in full.
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6. Specific details as to why the Traffic cones and Roadworks sign directly adjacent to the offending pothole had been placed in such a manner as to direct motorists directly into the path of the offending pothole!
It would appear as though signing and guarding was placed at the location in relation to a different pothole defect at the edge of the carriageway, prior to the 15th November.
7. The reason two highway maintenance vehicles were travelling slowly along the road from Swimbridge to Filleigh & shortly afterwards, slowly back again in the opposite direction, on the evening of the 15th November (circa 21:00) whilst I and another vehicle (Nissan Qashqai) were stranded awaiting emergency recovery and in my case, for the emergency mobile tyre fitting service to arrive.
Our control room received a call on the 15th November during the evening and initiated in out in response to a pothole defect in the centre of the road. The call out was request at approximately 2010hrs, with a completion time of 2230hrs.