Agenda item

Concerns, comments and suggestions raised by petitioners at the meeting included the following:

• Mr Ahmad Ghaffary spoke on behalf of the petition submitted to the Council.
• The petitioner circulated photographs to show the condition of the road and pavement surface on Cottage Close.
• Residents had raised concerns about the condition of the road over a long period of time and felt that these concerns had fallen on deaf ears.
• Council Officers had not conducted a site visit for Cottage Close and would therefore not have first-hand knowledge of the condition of the road surface.
• Petitioners had been informed that the re-surfacing of the road would take place but that this work was not likely to be undertaken until March 2013. Petitioners stated that this had previously been agreed for October 2012.
• The pictures provided showed that both the road surface and the pavement were in a state of disrepair. It was noted that the area around a fire hydrant was particularly dangerous for pedestrians.
• The elderly had to walk on the road due to the poor condition of the pavement.

Councillor Keith Burrows listened to the concerns of the petitioners and responded to the points raised:

• A site visit had taken place at Cottage Close. This was standard practice for Officers writing reports on the condition of road surfacing and determining whether pot holes are deeper than the emergency intervention level of 40mm.
• The site did not exceed the emergency intervention level of 40mm so Cottage Close would not be considered as in need of immediate repair. However, the road did have a number of fretting areas.
• The projected date of March 2013 for the surfacing of this road was partly due to an issue with the provider of a new type of road surfacing. The new surfacing could only be laid in temperatures over 5°C which meant that laying would have to stop between November 2012 and March/April 2013. The Council was in the process of sourcing a new product that could be laid in colder temperatures. If this could be sourced, it might be possible for the road to be resurfaced earlier than March.
• Prior to the re-surfacing of the road, the Council would monitor the condition of the road to assess whether it fell within the emergency intervention levels.
• It was noted that although the pavement was not part of the petition, the photographs provided by the petitioners to show the poor condition of the surface were of enough concern for officers to investigate immediately. A damaged area around a fire hydrant was of particular concern.

Officers advised that:

• Cottage Close would be resurfaced with Micro Asphalt but that the road would not be entirely resurfaced; some areas would be planed back and given a new surface but others would only be patched.

RESOLVED - That the Cabinet Member:

1.            Considered the petitioners’ request and discussed with them in detail their concerns regarding the condition of the carriageway surface.

2.            Instructed officers to place Cottage Close on to the list for roads being considered for treatment in a future resurfacing programme.

Reasons for recommendation

The existing carriageway surface had started to show signs of deterioration to the extent that shallow fretting had taken place in isolated areas of the carriageway. The failure is due to the natural ageing of the bitumen surface, which was slowly disintegrating after an estimated life of 5 to 15 years.  Past patching had filled some of the worst fretting but only as a medium term measure.  The road profile was “bumpy” in places and construction joints had opened at a number of locations. Resurfacing using a micro surfacing would improve the visual appearance of the road and improve the ride quality.  Officers would also undertake isolated repairs to the footway, which fall within the Council’s intervention levels.

Alternative options considered / risk management

Further patching works: However, this option had been discounted due to the shallow depth of the existing bitumen surface dressing. The road had a thin asphalt overlay over a concrete structure. In such a construction it was difficult to patch the surface and consistently ‘tie in’ to the existing surface level. Delaying or not undertaking certain schemes may have placed additional pressure on the Council’s financial resources if highway permanent repairs were not implemented in a timely manner. In many instances, the delay of schemes may also have had safety implications with possible consequent impact on the public liability insurance budget.

Officers considered that the carriageway surface was beyond normal patching repair and that resurfacing using a micro surfacing material was the most economical option available to restore a watertight smooth surface.