Extra £250,000 for summer roads programme

An extra £250,000 for the borough's annual resurfacing programme will bring improvements for more local roads this summer.

The Royal Borough has increased last year's £1 million budget by 25% which will mean that around 100 roads can be treated or resurfaced between June and October – compared to 75 last year.  A further £50,000 has been approved for patching work and sealing cracks to either prevent the need for resurfacing or to prepare roads for resurfacing next year.

Cllr Colin Rayner, lead member for highways, transport and environment, said:  "Good highway maintenance is essential to keep the borough on the move and this year's extra money reflects the council's commitment to improving roads across the borough.

"All ward councillors are involved in drawing up the programme by putting forward the roads in their areas that they feel should be included.  If we had unlimited cash we would do them all but, even with our welcome additional resources this year, we have to prioritise and spend money where it is most needed. However, the programme rolls forward and those that miss out this year will be considered for next year's work. It will take more than 10 years of investment to fully improve the quality of our roads."

The summer programme, managed by the council's contractor Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Services, gets under way in early June.  Some 44 roads are in line for surface dressing – a 'tar and chippings' treatment that waterproofs, improves skid performance – a major factor in road accidents – and helps prevent further deterioration. Underlying repairs to the road surface will be carried out before the surface dressing is applied.

The treatment takes a short time to complete and rarely needs road closures or diversions – however, it does call for vehicles to travel slowly over the new dressing for a number of days so that the chippings have time to bed down properly into the bitumen.  This means that the contractors will be erecting prominent 20mph signs wherever surface dressing is applied.
 
Stephen Brown, head of highways and engineering, said:  "Surface dressing is a very effective way of extending the life of a road by between seven and 15 years but it has been criticised by drivers who claim it chips windscreens and damages the bodywork of their cars.

"The secret is to obey the speed limits recommended by the contractors.  The 20mph signs are there to remind drivers that they must travel much more slowly than usual over the treated stretch of road.  By reducing their speed they will greatly reduce the potential for damage caused by vehicles travelling too fast and throwing up the loose chippings.  Then after a couple of days the surplus chippings are removed by road sweepers."

Early July will see the start of the more intensive resurfacing phase that, depending on the location and extent of the work, may mean some road closures and/or diversions, although these are kept to the absolute minimum to reduce disruption.

A key part of the summer programme is extensive communication with local residents in the streets affected. Letter drops will be carried out by contractors to ensure householders are given information about the planned works, advice about moving their cars and details of any road closures and diversions. 

Information about the programme, including types of treatment and access arrangements, is available on the council's website www.rbwm.gov.uk under Transport and Streets.

The council also issues travel information through the local media so that the driving public are made aware of potential journey changes or delays.

All road dressing and resurfacing depends on good weather between June and October so plans are subject to change during wet spells.