Road maintenance and white line painting

1240/5(1885)

QUESTION TO BE ASKED OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC SERVICES COMMITTEE ON TUESDAY 24th JUNE 2003,

BY DEPUTY G.C.L. BAUDAINS OF ST. CLEMENT

Question

In answer to questions on 13th May 2003, the President advised that main road white line painting was work of a specialised nature.

Would the President inform members –

( a ) w h e ther up to four vehicles can be engaged at the same time for any one road marking job, and, if

so, the reasons for this?

( b ) w  hether cost per mile comparisons have ever been made with other jurisdictions? and,

 ( c ) what criteria makes this work of a specialist nature, and whether the Committee has received any

expressions of interest from local contractors, and, if so, whether the Committee will now be seeking tenders for the work?

Answer

1. The Department operates a single purpose built road marking lorry adapted for Jersey width restrictions for centre and kerb line continuousmarking. Additional vehicles that the Deputy refers to may have been seen on specific jobs and at certain locations requiring more integrated work. Forexample, when a new junction layout is required, traffic engineers andsurveyorsmayberequired for setting outpurposes.At the sametime, staff will alsobe deployed forthe erection ofroad signs and for the manual application of road paint for lettering purposes at these junctions.
2. Cost comparisons with other authorities are made on anannualbasis.Thecurrent cost of centre road lining is 81pence per metre in Jersey, comparedto80pencepermetrein authorities in the southofEngland for similar minor roadsandurbanareas, standard comparisonsare all in metric units).
3. The material used for the majorityof road markingis thermoplastic andas I described inmyresponseon 13th May 2003, alternative cold applied materials are being trialled to assess their durability.However thermoplastic is preferred both here and in the UK due to its ability towithstand wear and tyre abrasion particularly whenvehicles traverse the centre white line onnarrow roads.

A  s a result of the publicity following on from the answer I gave on 13th May 2003, the Department received

expressions of interest from two local contractors. Both contractors acknowledged that they do not have the heating equipment or purpose built vehicle at present to take on this work. However the Department will be following up these expressions of interest to assess their ability to provide services where alternative cold applications may be acceptable. Both companies are already used for the provision of road signs to the Department.