Cardiff Council is set to invest £44m into the city’s roads and footways over the next five years.
The proposals which are being put forward under the budget proposed by the Liberal Democrat/Plaid Cymru administration would see resurfacing work take place across the city.
The comprehensive plan is being funded by a total investment of approximately £44m consisting of existing expenditure and boosted by around £14m (subject to WG approval) injected over three years alongside the implementation of an additional Council injection of £7m above existing funding over a five year period.
During the last two years the Council has made a substantial investment in reinstatement, patching repairs and resurfacing works but, as with all local authorities across the country, the problems with the road infrastructure is continuing to grow.
The future £14m investment will be aided by a recently announced Welsh Government initiative that helps all Welsh councils pay for borrowing costs for highway improvements.
In Cardiff the strain on the road network is immense with not only everyday use continuing to grow but increased communication network and utility works also needing to take place. Two consecutive harsh winters have also had a major impact with very cold weather, snow and extreme storm rain events all taking their toll.
A refreshed policy and full network assessment has been undertaken during 2011/12 so that roads and pavements can be prioritised so that funding is focussed on those areas that need it most.
Priority carriageways and footways for resurfacing are identified through a series of works including annual engineering inspections, detailed visual inspections, and use of scanner machine survey data. Reports from Councillors, public complaints logged and other safety inspections are also used to identify problems.
To assist, all ward members been asked to provide a list of carriageways or footways causing the greatest concern within their local communities. A significant number of schemes have been identified already, supporting the detailed inspections that identify the priority list of schemes for the next financial year.
Cardiff Council Leader, Cllr Rodney Berman said, “This level of funding to repair roads and footways is, we believe, unprecedented and underlines our commitment to implement a long term plan to improve our essential infrastructure both with a medium term injection of funds whilst building up longer term repair and maintenance funding.
“We have faced considerable challenges over the last two years from harsh winters, storm events and utility works and we have responded to these challenges with a comprehensive plan of works and substantial investment.
“The commitment from the Welsh Government is very welcome but that only solves part of the problem. We need more funding to deliver a long term solution and this administration believes in long term solutions, not just short term fixes.”
Executive Member for Highways, Cllr Lisa Ford said, “Cardiff Council is showing great commitment, financially and operationally to deal with these issues that have been a problem all over the UK.
“We have extensively assessed the roads and footways in the city and produced a way forward that will benefit all our residents and the increasing number of tourists that visit our city year in year out.”
