This winter marks one year of Gloucestershire County Council’s new reporting system Fix My Street. Alongside this the council has also extended their highways maintenance contract with partner Ringway.
Last winter the council launched Fix My Street, a quick and easy way to report a wide range of issues, from pavements and potholes to street lights and blocked drains.
Since then, more than 35,000 reports have been submitted. As well as being user friendly, the system brings benefits to the public by enabling the council to process queries more quickly and get on with the repairs.
New features have been added throughout the year. For example, it’s now easy to report problems with roadworks such as poor quality repairs by utility companies.
The council works in partnership with Ringway to address many of the issues reported. Together they have been testing new machines and methods for more efficient pothole repairs. This summer in the battle of the pothole repair machines a Spray Injection Patcher, JCB Pothole Pro, Roadmender and Bobcat were deployed in competition across the county. Since 1 April this year 40,506 potholes have been repaired. Ringway also deliver proactive repairs, Find and Fix teams have fixed 24,031 smaller potholes before they develop into safety hazards.
Highway maintenance services are provided by Ringway through the Council’s Term Maintenance Contract. The contract began in April 2019 for a 7-year term expiring on 31 March 2026 and provided the council with an extension option. The contract extension will run for up to four years and is subject to performance related targets, for example measuring the speed of pothole repairs and the number of drains cleared. The contract also builds in social value, ensuring that benefits from the investment are felt locally, and includes a commitment to continue enhancements and innovations to boost efficiency, performance and cost-effectiveness. The average cost of highways maintenance in the county is just over £27 million per year and so the total value of the contract extension is expected to be over £100 million.
Jason Humm, Director of Transport and Highways said “We’re delighted to continue working with Ringway Infrastructure Services. We look forward to boosting innovation and achieving further transformation in highways services. With Fix My Street and investment in proactive pothole repairs and drain clearing we’re seeing improvements in operations that are creating better journeys for Gloucestershire and helping to tackle the worst that the weather can throw at us.”
Nick Goddard, Regional Director for Ringway Infrastructure Services said “We are delighted that Gloucestershire County Council has decided to extend our highly successful relationship and look forward to maintaining a sustainable and innovative highway maintenance service over the coming years. This award is testament to many years of hard work and collaboration, which we aim to continue for the benefit of the highway users and communities of Gloucestershire.”
