Extra £1m to help maintain Swansea’s roads

AN extra £1m is being invested in Swansea’s roads by the end of March next year.

Swansea Council is using money from its insurance reserves to prop up the £3.28 million it’s already pledged to highway infrastructure works that also include bridge improvements, footway upgrades and street lighting repairs.

The extra £1m will be spent on highway resurfacing, kerb work, filling in potholes, strengthening masonry and fixing other road defects. These works will complement the on-going PATCH project (Priority Action Team for Community Highways) that helps target and repair some of the worst sections of road in Swansea.

The PATCH project visits all 32 Swansea wards between April and December every year.  The project is in addition to other Swansea Council teams who are also out and about every day to fix roads and keep the city moving.

The extra money has partly come about because of the council’s success rate in combatting non-personal and personal injury claims relating to highway defects. In 2014, the council paid out £168,000, compared with a figure of £331,000 in 2005.

Cllr Mark Thomas, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Transportation, said: “We know how important the condition of our roads is for residents right across the city so, despite these difficult financial times, very careful management of money means we’re able to invest an extra £1m into our highways this year. This will help tackle a backlog of repairs that needs addressing and fund resurfacing projects that will benefit hundreds of thousands of motorists.

“The combination of our PATCH project and other road repair teams means we’re now making significant progress on catching up with highway damage that was caused over winter. We’ve already attended to over 2,500 potholes and other road defects this year, so the public can be assured we’re doing all we can. Our highway inspectors are out every day to identify repairs that need carrying out and any reports we receive will be addressed according to their priority.”

The PATCH project has already visited 10 Swansea communities since mid-April. Some of the communities to have benefitted to far this year include St Thomas, Bonymaen, Clydach, Townhill, Uplands and Cwmbwrla. Roads on Gower have also recently been visited to ensure they’re in good shape in time for the peak summer season.

Communities to benefit in coming weeks include Mynyddbach, Morriston, Penllergaer, Mawr and Cockett.