Operational Control Room

The high tech Operational Control Room is at the heart of Cumbria’s Highways operations. 

The Operational Control Room, or OCR, at Skirsgill depot in Penrith is effectively mission control for Cumbria Highways - it is the nerve centre for much of the county’s multi-million pound highways operation. 

Staffed around the clock, 365 days a year, the OCR’s state-of-the-art satellite technology and mapping software allows Cumbria Highways to make the most efficient use of the millions of pounds worth of resources deployed on the network. 

The OCR gives us the ability to log problems and jobs called into the Highways Hotline and to respond faster and more efficiently to accidents and civil emergencies and urgent highways issues. 

The banks of widescreen monitors in the OCR feature detailed maps of the county showing the exact locations of jobs for our Highways Stewards, emergency response teams and other teams on the ground in Cumbria. Satellite technology allows the OCR operators to track teams on the ground in real time and make sure that the right resources get to where they are needed at the right time. 

The OCR can also help Highways Stewards keep track of work in the rural parishes they serve and help target the work in urban areas and all over the county. 

Various Cumbria Highways teams are equipped with touch-screen tablets that can ‘talk’ to the OCR. Satellite transponders fitted to their vehicles mean that the OCR can see exactly where Cumbria Highways assets are in the county. 

Whether a fault needing attention is called in to the Highways Hotline by a member of the public, a parish council, a Highways Steward or an inspector, the high-tech OCR logs and keeps track of the problem until it is solved. 

The OCR will also be the control room for Cumbria Highways in the event of a civil emergency and provides a single, round the clock point of contact for emergency services.