Leicestershire Highways Our Commitment to you
David Parsons
Leader, Leicestershire
County Council
At Leicestershire County Council we are committed to delivering an efficient and
effective service to you our customers. This document outlines our commitment to provide a high quality,
user friendly Highways service that meets your needs.
We look after and maintain nearly all the roads, pavements, cycleways and streetlights
in Leicestershire, this web page summarises the standards and practices for parts of our service.
I am always interested in what the local people think of the County Council and
the work it is doing. Comments on this document and on any aspect of the Council’s performance can be
sent to me at:
Leader’s Office
Leicestershire County Council
County
Hall
Glenfield
Leicestershire
LE3 8RA
Our Objective is: To Create a Better and Safer Transport System
What We Do
Everyone living and travelling in the County uses our services.
- We plan, build and repair roads and pavements in the County. (excluding
Motorways, A5, A42, A46, A52 and roads in Leicester City)
- We provide and maintain traffic lights, street lighting and road signs.
- We plan, develop and carry out measures such as speed limits, parking regulations and
lorry controls.
- We promote road safety through various means, including traffic calming, speed limits,
education and awareness. We do this by working in partnership with the police, schools and other groups.
- We work closely with District Councils (Local Planning Authorities) to ensure that new
development fits in with the local road and transport system.
- We produce information in an easy-to-read form on our services - updating this on a regular
basis and displaying it on our web site.
- We consult on improvement schemes explaining the proposals and seeking the views of the
local community.
How we do it
Our intention is:
“To provide, maintain and manage the highway network for the safe
and efficient movement of people and goods”
We aim to provide a courteous, helpful and responsive service to all local people
and to deliver the highest possible standards within the resources available to us.
Contacting Us
Letters:
When you write to us we will reply to you within 10 working days either giving a
detailed answer or letting you know when you will receive a full answer.
Our address is :
Leicestershire County Council
Department of Highways, Transportation
and Waste Management
County Hall
Glenfield
Leicestershire
LE3 8RJ
Telephone Calls:
To make our services easily accessible, we provide a Freephone telephone number:
Roadline - 0800 62 62 03
This is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Outside normal office hours a recorded
message will advise you of a phone number for emergency situations. If we cannot deal with your query
direct, we will ensure you speak to the right person to help you.
Other ways to contact us:
Fax: 0116 305 7014
Minicom: Leicester 265 7334
Email:
htwm@leics.gov.uk
Website www.leics.gov.uk
How well are we doing?
We want to provide you with a high level of service. To make sure we do this we
will:
- Carry out regular surveys to find out what you think
- Ask for your comments and feedback on schemes we have completed and the service we provide.
- Monitor our performance against national and local standards and publish the results.
- Welcome all comments and use them to improve our service
What
are our Standards and Procedures?
This web page summarises the standards and practices for some parts of our service.
From experience and discussions with representative community groups, we believe that these cover the
main concerns of local people.
Roads, Pavements and Signs.
Information on road works
Road works are carried out by many different organisations such as gas, water, electricity
and telephone companies. We do not have control over these (particularly emergency works to correct
faults, leaks etc.), but we have a responsibility to co-ordinate planned works where possible.
Where road works are our responsibility we will:
- Display information notices where significant work is planned to take place,
at least one week before work starts.
- Advise occupiers of adjacent properties at least one week before significant planned work
is due to start.
- Provide clearly signed diversions where roads need to be closed.
- Road works information will also be made available via our website.
Roads
in winter - We will:
- Publish advice on winter driving which sets out the plans and procedures
for roads to be salted each year and make these available through a range of outlets.
- Spread salt on all main roads, including at least one road into each large village, to
protect against freezing. Over 40% of our roads are salted when freezing is predicted. We use modern
precision weather forecasting linked to our own weather stations.
- Use over 100 snow ploughs to open main routes within 24 hours of heavy snow and other
routes as soon as practical
- Clear prolonged heavy snowfalls from town and village centers within the resources available
to us
- Provide information to local radio stations and through our web site, on road conditions
and closures during adverse weather conditions.
Emergency
Work - We will:
- Provide an emergency call out service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Remove, protect or repair serious hazards within 2 hours of being informed.
- Remove, protect or repair other hazards, obstructions and damage to roads and pavements
which may be a danger to the people using them within 24 hours of being informed.
- In the case of major emergencies, respond to individual incidents according to priority,
within the resources available to us
Routine Maintenance
– We will:
- Inspect all 4000 km (2500miles) of our roads, pavements and signs on a regular
basis.
- Repair damage and wear to keep roads and pavements safe and in good condition
- Carry out programmed maintenance to prevent roads and pavements wearing out
- Remove the backlog of main roads that are worn out by 2010
- Cut grass verges in towns and villages at least 9 times a year
- Control weed growth on pavements and kerbsides
- Clean our roadside drains at least once a year, more in problem areas
Litter
collection and street sweeping are not carried out by the county council. These are the responsibility
of the local District or Borough Council.
Street Lighting
For street lights and illuminated road signs managed by the County Council we will:
- Check once a fortnight that all 60,000 street lights and 11,000 illuminated
signs are working.
- Make safe dangerous faults within 1 hour of being informed.
- Repair faults (except those caused by a power failure) within 4 working days of being
informed.
Traffic Lights
Traffic Lights and Pelican Crossings – We will:
- Regularly check that over 250 sets of traffic lights and pedestrian crossings
are working.
- Repair faults (except those caused by a power failure) within 8 hours of being informed.
- Replace faulty lamps within 2 days of being informed
- Put up warning signs within 2 hours of being advised, if traffic lights or pelican crossings
are out of action.
Road Safety
We will:
- Continue to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on the
roads in Leicestershire. We are aiming for a 28% reduction by 2005, compared with the late 1990s. This
means over 100 fewer people killed or seriously injured each year.
- Aim to reduce speed related accidents by installing safety cameras where appropriate to
reduce vehicle speeds and speed-related accidents.
- Investigate and respond promptly and efficiently to concerns about local road safety issues.
Your Views
We welcome your views on local highway services. If you have any suggestions or
comments, please contact us.
If you are not satisfied about the way we have dealt with you or you believe we
have failed to meet our published standards, please let us know.
We will deal promptly and effectively with any complaints in accordance with our
procedure.
If you are not satisfied with any aspect of our service, please let our Customer
Access Team know – Tel: 0800 62 62 03. We will do our best to resolve the matter as quickly as possible.
If you require information contained in this web page in an alternative version,
e.g. large print, Braille or an alternative language, please call 0800 62 62 03.
e-mail page to a friend
