More than £6.5m set aside to fix roads and potholes in coming year

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

This year around £1.2m is set to be invested in the small resurfacing scheme (SRS) with a further £3.8m being spent on carriageway resurfacing as well as footway renewals and bridge repairs. There will be £700,000 for drainage and preventing flooding during heavy rain and £450,000 for street light refurbishment.

Andrew Stevens, 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: "Since April last year we've filled in more than 6,500 potholes - well over 95% of them within 48 hours of being reported to us by members of the public. These are repaired using specialist all weather repair material designed to be used to make quick permanent repairs.

"A further 2,000 safety repairs have been carried out using traditional methods. This time of year our teams are always busier because of the impact of freezing and wet winter weather and the weight of traffic cracking-up road surfaces.

"We're also the only council in Wales to have made the 48-hour repair pledge to take action which means our repair teams are busier than most."

Cllr Stevens said: "This year other councils have taken drastic action and reduced investment in their roads to make ends meet. We've decided not to take that route in the coming year and, in fact, we've found room to increase the budget."

Cllr Stevens added: "Our SRS road repair programme has been going for a number of years and has been very successful in targeting repairs that are larger than a 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."

Cllr Stevens said: "In the first two months of 2024 we completed road resurfacing projects in Pentrepoeth Road, Morriston, and Gorwydd Road, Gowerton and the M4 junction at Penllergaer. Plans are in place for upgrades shortly at Ysgubor Fach Road in Waun Wen and St Peter's Road, Newton.

"That's in addition to 9km of major resurfacing work done in 2023, adding up to a total of 19 projects in places like Llansamlet, Garngoch and Brynhyfryd."

He added: "This is a significant investment in our city's highway infrastructure and the improvements we are doing help prevent road conditions from deteriorating. 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."