Council says yes to £25m outlay on road schemes

THE council has approved spending over £25m on highways and transport schemes in Rhondda Cynon Taf this year.

Cabinet approved the supplementary capital programme for highways, transportation and strategic projects on Thursday, March 25.

For 2021/2022, the council is putting £12.94m towards highways schemes and £12.07m towards strategic projects.

Here is how the £12.94m for highways will be broken down:

■■ £5.69m for carriageway resurfacing and surface treatment made up of £4.69m to continue resurfacing and treatment at identified locations and £500,000 each for minor surface repairs and essential repairs; ■■£4.99m for structures with work ongoing on the replacement Brook Street footbridge adjacent to Ystrad railway station which is seeing £2.75m carried over into this year and the Nant Cwm Park Cantilever (A4061 Station Road); ■■£1.11m for footways which are considered to be a high risk to the council;

■■£750,000 for parks structures; ■■£200,000 for street lighting with an ongoing programme of column replacement and a replacement of the council’s network of supply cables; ■■£160,000 for traffic management including measures like warning signs, the introduction of traffic orders and the provision of residents’ parking; ■■£45,000 for repairs and upgrades to council car parks.

On flood alleviation, the council benefits from 85% funding from Welsh Government for individual schemes.

An allowance has been made to provide council match-funding for successful applications.

There are 10 strategic flood risk area schemes listed for 2021/22, along with 12 small-scale flood alleviation schemes and 19 Resilient Roads schemes which are reliant on Welsh Government funding.

The council is looking for capital funding from Welsh Government to carry out a range of repairs needed after the impact of Storm Dennis last year including for priorities such as the Berw Road Bridge in Pontypridd, Feeder Pipe Footbridge in Abercynon, Penydarren Tramroad Bridge in Trecynon, Merlin Bridge in Hopkinstown and the Blaen-y-Cwm Road river wall.

The £12.07m for strategic projects will be spent on schemes like the Llanharan Bypass project, the A4119 dualling and the A465 Cynon Gateway North.

The initial design has been completed for the Llanharan Bypass and another £1.5m will be allocated this year. It will see a new road built south of Llanharan and Dolau, and a pre-application planning consultation will be held in the summer.