Footways run alongside either side of the road and are commonly referred to as pavements.
Footways should not be confused with footpaths, which are Public Rights of Way (PROW) and are normally located away from the carriageway eg between buildings or through open countryside. There are approximately 330km of footpaths across the Bury borough and 1,200km of footways.
Inspections
We take a risk-based approach to the repair of footway defects.
Our highway inspectors inspect footways across the Bury borough, either on a monthly, quarterly or annual inspection basis.
- Our busiest roads (eg 'A' roads and roads in town centres) are inspected every month
- Link road footways are inspected every three months
- Quieter streets (eg estate roads and cul-de-sacs) are inspected annually.
During these safety inspections, each footway is risk assessed for defects to determine if a repair is needed, and if so, how quickly it will be repaired.
Defects that pose a greater risk to highway users are repaired more quickly
Condition inspections are also carried out on all footways on a five-year rolling programme using the Footway Network Survey.
This information enables us to target and prioritise maintenance effectively.
Types of footway repair
Footway patching
Patches are repairs to small areas of failed footways, replacing one or more of the bituminous (Tarmac) layers of construction.
Footway patching can be used to repair areas where the surface or structural layers of the footway are failing. Depending on the size of the road, patching can be carried out using traffic management but can sometimes require a road closure.
Footway patching is designed to have a minimum design life of ten-years.
Footway reconstruction
Reconstruction involves replacing a substantial depth of the footway's bituminous (Tarmac) layers. Reconstruction can be considered when a footway has extensive areas of structural failure.
Reconstruction works are extensive construction works and can be disruptive to highway users.
Siding
Siding removes soil and vegetation that grows on or encroaches onto a footway. This often happens where a footway is not used and is standard on footways in rural areas. Siding works are carried out in winter to return footways to their full width.
How to report a footway issue
Footway issues should be reported online so that you can check first if it has already been reported to us or not. When you report a footway issue online you will also be able to check yourself where we are up to with its repair.