Millions to be invested in roads in coming year

Swansea Council's Cabinet on March 17 is being asked to approved a programme of work that will see road repairs, footpath upgrades and street light improvements across all communities in the city.

The package of measures are designed to repair roads and also carry out work to prevent roads in good condition from deteriorating.

The report going to Cabinet on March 17 says that if approved, £700,000 will be invested in the PATCH scheme with a further £1.3m being spent on carriageway resurfacing as well as footway renewals and repairs. There will be £250,000 for street-light repairs and almost £500,000 for drainage and preventing flooding during heavy rain.

In addition to that there will be around £1.5m set aside for emergency resurfacing projects and £1m to complete installation of energy and money-saving LED lights on the street light network. Almost £500,000 will be spent to increase the council's electric vehicle fleet, already the biggest of any local authority in Wales.

The council's Economic Recovery Fund will also be contributing a further £330,000 to extend the PATCH scheme.

Mark Thomas, Cabinet Member for Environment and Infrastructure, said the highways fund was a significant investment in improving city roads and footpaths in city communities.

He said: "Our PATCH road repair programme has been ongoing for a number of years in the city and has been very successful in targeting repairs that are larger than a simple pothole.

"Everyone in the city should see a benefit where they live because we plan it so our highway maintenance teams visit every ward and target the worst sections of road identified during our regular inspections.

"Thanks to extra funding announced in the council's budget we're extending the work of the PATCH team in all our communities over the coming year."

Further funding will be directed towards tackling the backlog of repairs which are monitored during regular highway inspections and includes potholes repairs and pavement improvements.

Cllr Thomas said: "As we emerge from the pandemic our highways teams have been very active, dealing with more than 4,000 potholes in the last few months alone. In addition the council has cleared an additional 6,000 drains in the last few months, thanks to extra cash from the Economic Recovery Fund

He added: "This is a significant investment in our city's highway infrastructure. We are responsible for a large and varied range of highway assets including over 1,100km of road, street lights, car parks and traffic control signals."