Road repairs boosted by £7.4m investment
THE popular Patch community road resurfacing programme in Swansea is set to get a boost as part of £7.4 million of investment in roads across the city in the coming year.
Swansea Council’s cabinet is being asked to approve a programme of work that will see road repairs, footpath upgrades and street light improvements across all communities in the city.
The package of measures is designed to repair roads and also carry out work to prevent roads in good condition from deteriorating.
A report going to cabinet on Thursday says that, if approved, £720,000 will be invested in the Patch scheme, with a further £750,000 being spent on footway repairs.
Mark Thomas, council cabinet member for environment and infrastructure, said the highways fund was a significant investment in improving city roads and footpaths in city communities.
He said: “Our Patch road repair programme has been ongoing for a number of years in the city and has been very successful in targeting repairs that are larger than a simple pothole.
“Everyone in the city should see a benefit where they live because we plan it so our highway maintenance teams visit every ward and target the worst sections of road identified during our regular inspections.”
Along with resurfacing roads in the city, a further £500,000 will be spent on drainage and flooding renewals and works to help prevent flooding during heavy rain, as well as another £50,000 on coastal defence works.
Investment will be directed towards refurbishing street lighting, where £350,000 has been allocated towards the upgrade of street lights.
Further funding will be directed towards tackling the backlog of repairs which are monitored during regular highway inspections and includes potholes repairs and pavement improvements.
Councillor Thomas said: “This year’s highways maintenance programme is on top of the Patch scheme includes projects in Cockett, Fairwood, Gower, Morriston and Llansamlet, as well as Sketty, Uplands, West Cross and Pennard.”
He added: “This is a significant investment in our city’s highway infrastructure. We are responsible for a large and varied range of highway assets including more than 1,100km of road, street lights, car parks and traffic control signals. As always, much of the investment will be directed towards maintaining our highway network by carrying out resurfacing works and tackling potholes.
“In the four months to the end of January more than 2,200 potholes reported to us by the public were fixed, the vast majority within 48 hours of being reported.”