Condition of rural county roads to be checked by AI camera system
Highways chiefs say they have been working with the Department for Transport to implement an AI-based camera assessment of their road networks
Artificial intelligence will be used to survey the condition of rural roads in Gloucestershire amid concerns over lack of data on unclassified routes.
Highways chiefs at Shire Hall say they have been working with the Department for Transport (DfT) to implement an AI-based camera assessment of their road networks.
This is currently under development and is likely to be rolled out next year.
The issue came to light this week as Councillor Chloe Turner (G, Minchinhampton) tabled a question to Gloucestershire County Council’s cabinet today (June 18) asking why there was no recent data.
“Why do we not have figures for the past 2 years for ‘percentage of unclassified roads where maintenance should be considered’.
“When will we have data for this measure, as it is crucial for those of us with rural divisions?”
Councillor Joe Harris (LD, Cirencester Park), who is responsible for the county’s highways, said he understands the concern as so much of the network is unclassified.
“Road condition for our much larger unclassified roads network was previously assessed every three year period using a specialised ‘scanner’ vehicle,” he said in his written response to Cllr Turner.
“This was the national and DfT agreed standard.
“Since the last assessment period in 2023 when Dft removed both the reporting requirement and standard by which to measure unclassified roads, all authorities have been working with DfT to implement an AI based camera assessment of their networks.
“This remains under development but is likely to be the agreed method to be implemented in 2026.”