Road resurfacing work gets under way

A major 12-week programme of road resurfacing and reconstruction got under way in Plymouth yesterday.

The programme will run through to mid-September and see 37 whole roads and larger sections of road across the city being resurfaced. These are the roads that suffered the worst damage after the severe weather that hit Plymouth over the winter.

As well as resurfacing, the works will include structural reconstruction to the worst affected areas and a micro asphalting programme in the summer to slow the rate of deterioration on 20 roads across the city. This follows the success of applying micro asphalt to 13 roads as part of last year’s road improvement programme.

The works will be carried out alongside the Council’s day-to-day road maintenance programme, which now sees 10 gangs (increased from six) carrying out permanent first-time repairs to individual potholes, including two operating at night on busier roads that cannot be closed to traffic during the day.

The Council’s highways contractor Amey will begin the resurfacing programme in Glendower Road in Peverell. The June phase of the programme will see 8,086 square metres of resurfacing on the first five of the 37 roads – these are:

Glendower Road: Tuesday 24 June
Quarry Park Road: Wednesday 25 June
Elim Terrace and Abbots Road: Thursday 26 and Friday 27 June
Peverell Terrace: Monday 30 June

The works follow on from a five-month programme in 2013 which saw 32 whole roads and large sections of road resurfaced with 142,000 square metres of tarmac – the equivalent of 14 football pitches.

Councillor Mark Coker, Cabinet Member for Transport said: “We’re pulling out all the stops to make extra resources available – in the face of widespread Government cuts – to tackle the severe damage inflicted on our roads.

“This is the second year we’ll be investing an extra £2 million on road repairs, as part of our commitment in 2013 to spend an additional £20 million over 10 years. We will also continue to press the Government for more funding to invest in the widespread resurfacing projects the city needs and deserves.

“In the meantime we’re doing all we can to repair as many problem areas as possible.”

Residents and businesses near the works are being notified in advance by letter and, where road closures are required, diversion routes will be signed. Access to properties will be maintained when and where possible.