Highways Agency

• Area 9

Area 9: Why do you see our cones on the road ?

In a word – SAFETY!

Incident Response Service

• We operate “Incident Support Units” managed by our dedicated 24 hour control centre, to assist the Traffic Officers and emergency services.
• We cone off the scene to protect the emergency services at the scene of an incident, and in order to ensure the safety of other motorists.
• Generally the cones are kept there until we have cleared up the debris from the incident and carried out repairs caused by the incident.
• Occasionally one or two cones are left to mark the location for further work.
• Cones may be required longer if needed by the emergency services e.g. for accident investigation.

Did you know that 65% of the closures we put on for work with the central reserve are to repair barriers damaged by traffic accidents?

Highways, Footways & Cycleways General Maintenance

• It’s our responsibility to ensure potholes are filled and the road is safe to travel on.
• We cone off the area to keep it safe and to protect our workforce when working.
• We regularly sweep the hard shoulder and the central reserve.
• We make sure drains are cleaned and are in good condition to prevent flooding.

Did you know that it is our responsibility to sweep and litter pick on the motorways but it is generally your local district council who is responsible for sweeping and cleaning our trunk roads?

Bridge General Maintenance

• Bridges are, in our business, called “structures”.
• We use cones when completing inspections of structures for the safety of all involved and to separate traffic from our workforce when carrying out safety repairs.  Each structure has to be inspected every year – just like an MOT for a car.
• The roads around Birmingham have 21 miles of elevated roads including Spaghetti Junction.  In total we look after 1,500 structures.

Did you know that the M6 contains the longest section of elevated road in Europe?

Street Lighting & Road Signs and Bollard Maintenance

• We look after 13,000 lamps, signs and bollards.
• We use cones to protect our workforce and their vehicles when working in this busy environment.
• Each lamp has to be changed at least every three years on columns and every 12 months on signs and bollards.
• Signs and bollard fittings are being changed to low voltage for safety and environmental reasons.
• Most of the columns are in the central reserve, which is why the third lane on a motorway has to be closed to carry out this work.

Did you know that all signs are washed once a year?

Verge & Landscape Maintenance

• Areas of grass are mown for safety reasons e.g. if the grass is long and obscures a driver’s vision or to ensure visibility of road signs.
• Cones are used to provide a safe working area for our workforce and to protect the driving public from our vehicles and equipment.
• In some urban areas the grass is mown to make the area look presentable and will be cut up to 8 times a year.
• The roadside verges are a valuable haven for wildlife.  We manage this habitat to promote our native species, as part of the Agency’s Biodiversity Action Plan.

Did you know that we have put up 25 Bat boxes and 20 Nesting boxes in the last 12 months?

Large Maintenance and Improvement Schemes

• It is our responsibility to inspect and monitor the roads and to design and develop schemes to ensure the long-term good condition, and safety of the roads.  The associated works, or schemes, can take from 2 nights to 2 years to complete. 
• Cones are used to regulate the traffic and provide protection for our workforce and the public.
• We also monitor collision statistics and journey times and design improvements accordingly.
• For most of these larger schemes the nature of the works means it is not practical or safe to take the cones off after each shift.

Did you know that in the last 4 years the numbers of people killed and seriously injured on Highways Agency roads has been reduced by 50% in Area 9? With your help we can reduce this further.

However much we do to improve our network, driver behaviour will always be a crucial factor. Drivers can help us reduce accidents further by adhering to the standards in the Highway Code.