Agenda item

Councillor Michael White attended the meeting and spoke as a Ward Councillor.

Concerns and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

• Residents stated that some resurfacing had been undertaken in March 2010 at one end of West Mead, towards the junction of Victoria Road.
• It was suggested that the recent uncompleted resurfacing repairs were unacceptable.
• Residents stated that no resurfacing had been done at the junction of Queens Walk and the crossing.
• Residents were concerned that West Mead was riddled with potholes, which had resulted to the highway being dangerous. They suggested that the dangers posed by the state of the road had been confirmed by some motor cyclists.
• Residents expressed concerns about the potentially disastrous situation near the West Mead Clinic with cars trying to negotiate the potholes, as well as high levels of pedestrians needing to cross the road to access the clinic.
• It was stated that the road was used as a thorough fair and suggested that with it being home to a clinic and health centre, with so many potholes would be a hazard to the ambulance service.
• It was thought that the road was patched to the point of becoming hills in the middle of the road.
• It was suggested that the potholes would need to be removed and the road needed to be resurfaced, as the potholes were becoming a problem in themselves.

Councillor Keith Burrows listened to the concerns of the petitioners and responded that West Mead was placed high on the priority list for future treatment. Once the budget for resurfacing programme had been decided in February 2011, funding for the roads on the priority list would then be considered.

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Member:

1. Discussed in detail with residents their concerns regarding the condition of the carriageway surface.
2. Instructed officers to place West Mead on to the list for roads being considered for treatment in a future resurfacing programme.

Reasons for Recommendation

The existing carriageway surface has deteriorated to the extent that shallow fretting has taken place in isolated areas of the carriageway. This is due to the natural ageing of the surface and the surface dressing that has been applied over the original layer. Past patching has filled some of the worst fretting but only as medium term measure. The road profile is “bumpy” in places and service trenches have sunk at a number of locations. In areas the surface has worn away resulting in shallow ruts and general unevenness.  Resurfacing would improve the visual appearance of the road and improve the ride quality.

Alternative options considered

Further patching works: However this option has been discounted given the level of deterioration and that it does not offer the most economic solution. These roads have been identified as being most severely affected. Delaying or not undertaking certain schemes may place additional pressure on the Councils financial resources if highway permanent repairs are not implemented in a timely manner. In many instances, the delay of schemes may also have safety implications with possible consequent impact on the public liability insurance budget.

Officers consider that the carriageway surface is now beyond normal patching repair and that resurfacing is the only option available to restore a smooth surface.