Highway Maintenance Response Time Standards

Attachment A: Maintenance Response Time SurveyAASHTO Research Advisory Committee ListservWisconsin Department of Transportation – December 6, 2004I think that there is always some concern that requirements such as this would open the Department up to legalramifications. For instance, suppose that some activity is to be performed within 2 hours and it happens at a timewhen a crew needs to be assembled and travel time makes it impossible, what would the ramifications be ifsomething happens 2 hours and 5 minutes after notification? This is not to say that a best effort will not be made tofix all conditions as quickly as possible.TexasRespondent: Joe Graff [Deputy Director- Texas DOT Maintenance Division]; 512-416-3195;JGRAFF@dot.state.tx.us.You might get several responses from Texas as Maintenance and Operations are different divisions.1. Does your state have response time standards for emergency maintenance operations?Generally the answer to this question is no. We do have policies in our manual that indicate "As soon as possible"or "As soon as practical." This generally means we respond 24 hours a day to the "As soon as possible" items(signals out, stop signs, bridge hit, etc.). As soon as practical would mean on a normal work day.2. What operations are covered by the standards? Please list or attach pertinent documents, if available.Level of service guidelines are addressed in our Maintenance Manual. The following link will get you to theTxDOT on-line Maintenance Manual:http://manuals.dot.state.tx.us/dynaweb/colinfra/@Generic__CollectionView;cs=default;ts=default. In theMaintenance Management Manual, look at Chapter 3 - Level of Service. In the Maintenance Operations Manual,look at all chapters for a description of the work and priorities.3. What are the response times established for each operation? Please list or attach pertinent documents, if available.Again, we have not developed response times requirements, mostly to make sure we are not setting our self up forlawsuits. We have developed some response times for our asset management contractor. The specification can befound at: http://www.dot.state.tx.us/mnt/specs/maintspec.txt. See Performance Standards, beginning on the bottomof page 5. Let me know if you have any questions.UtahRespondent: David Kinnecom [Traffic Management Engineer, Traffic Operations Center]; 801 887-3707;dkinnecom@utah.gov.The Utah Department of Transportation does not have specific time standards for emergency response. However, wedo have a number of practices intended to improve our response time to public safety problems.We have a traffic signal technician on-call every night and weekend. These technicians are called in by the TrafficOperations Center or the Department of Public Safety for traffic signal problems that affect safety. These mayinclude knockdowns, exposed wires, flashing intersections, or twisted heads. The on-call technician is generallyexpected to respond to the scene in less than one hour, although that is not a written standard. During the day, whenseveral technicians are on duty, they are expected to respond to a safety issue as soon as possible when notified.Typically, this time is less than one half hour, depending on location.Highway, maintenance personnel also are requested to respond to public safety problems as soon as possible. Theymay be called in after normal hours for problems such as sign knockdowns, spilled loads, pavement or bridgedamage, or winter maintenance. UDOT's Incident Management Team is also subject to be called in after hours toassist with traffic incidents.Please feel free to contact me if I can be of further assistance.VermontRespondent: Richard Tetreault; Richard.Tetreault@state.vt.us.Vermont does not have response time standards for emergency maintenance operations.8