Agenda item

Councillor Allan Kauffman, Councillor Judy Kelly and Councillor Shirley Harper-O’Neill attended the hearing and spoke as Ward Councillors.

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

• Mr Lewington spoke on behalf of the petition submitted to the Council.
• Photographs previously submitted by the petitioner were circulated to show the condition of the road on Mahlon Avenue.
• The road had not been resurfaced in over 28 years. Only minor patching work had been undertaken during this time.
• The poor condition of the road and pavement surfaces was dangerous especially with an infant school close to the road and with older residents using it to get to the local doctors surgery.
• The condition of the road had got worse since the petition was submitted in May 2012, and there were large pot holes.

Ward Councillors were of the opinion that the road needed to be resurfaced urgently. It was noted that 2 of the major roads in the area had been resurfaced and that the next stage of the programme should be to resurface the side roads. It was also noted that, due to traffic avoiding a barrier nearby, Mahlon Avenue had become a very busy carriageway. Ward Councillors also asked that the road be resurfaced rather than patched and that the pavements be brought up to a safe standard. Ward Councillors were in complete support of the petition.

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

• Officer would be instructed to inspect the pavements on the road as requested by Ward Councillors.
• Mahlon Avenue would be placed on the list for roads being considered in a future resurfacing programme. Immediate work would be undertaken on the road prior to full resurfacing.
• When the road was resurfaced it would be planed off and given a full new surface. 
• The Council’s resurfacing programme was determined on an annual basis by the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Planning, Transportation & Recycling. The prioritisation of roads to be resurfaced was based on an assessment of how dangerous the road surface was and on the outcome of the UK Pavement Management System structural condition surveys. The next resurfacing programme would be considered and in place by January/February.  

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 Mahlon Avenue 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 was due to the natural ageing of the bitumen surface, which was now 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 is “bumpy” in places and construction joints had opened at a number of locations.  Resurfacing 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 given the level of deterioration and that it did not offer the most economic solution.  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 scheme may also have had safety implications with possible consequent impact on the public liability insurance budget.

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