Frequently asked questions about roadworks

Who is responsible for roadworks?

What happens if you are unhappy about roadworks in your area?

How can I be alerted to roadworks in my area?

Why do roadworks sometimes take longer than planned?

How do I find out about road closures in Swansea?

Who looks after the roads in Swansea?

Fabian Way

Where else can I find information about roadworks or traffic issues?

Who is responsible for roadworks?

We are responsible for monitoring and coordinating roadworks that are carried out in Swansea. The roadworks themselves are carried out by a statutory undertaker. This could be the council, Wales and West Utilities for gas supplies, Western Power for electricity supplies, Welsh Water for water supplies and telecommunications companies like BT and Virgin Media. All of these have a legal duty to install, inspect, maintain, repair or replace apparatus in or under the street as needed.

The utility companies have a legal obligation to tell the council about roadworks they are planning to carry out. Sometimes emergency work needs to be carried out, for example, if there is a gas or water leak. In these cases the notice the utility company is able to give will be very short.

What happens if you are unhappy about roadworks in your area?

You should contact the utility company or contractor if there is an issue with roadworks in your area. Details of the roadworks, contractors and how to contact them are available on the weekly Roadworks page. You can report noise or nuisance issues to our Pollution team.

How can I be alerted to roadworks in my area?

We provide a free email bulletin (opens new window) of the latest roadwatch report. You will need to give your name and email address to register. You can stop receiving the email alerts by selecting 'unsubscribe' from any emails you receive.

Why do roadworks sometimes take longer than planned?

Pipes and cables have been laid under our roads for over 100 years. Records of the locations of older pipes and cables are often incomplete or missing. Although technology has been produced to help find the locations of pipes and cabling it is sometimes only possible to find the locations by digging a hole. This uncertainty can lead to an extension in the time the roadworks last.

How do I find out about road closures in Swansea?

Road closures may occur because of roadworks and these will be listed in the weekly Roadworks page. A road may be closed temporarily for safety reasons due to development work, roadworks, private contractors or other events. We provide details of Temporary road closures and [LINK: Special events road closures].

Who looks after the roads in Swansea?

We look after all adopted highways in the county.

Private streets (unadopted highways) are maintained at the owner's expense. The owner may be the residents who each own the part in front of their house, or a third party (usually a developer). We are under no obligation to carry out repairs or maintenance to the street, even though it could be a public right of way to which highway and traffic law can be applied. You can find out whether a road is adopted by submitting an adopted roads search request online.

The only other road we don't look after in the Swansea area is the M4 motorway. The motorway is maintained by South Wales Trunk Road Agent. If you want to report a problem or fault on the motorway you can contact them by phone on 0300 123 1213 or report it online using their network map (opens new window).

Fabian Way

We sometimes get reports of issues on Fabian Way that are outside our county area. We can only deal with problems if they are in Swansea. Fabian Way from the M4 junction 43 to just past the new Swansea University Bay campus is the responsibility of Neath Port Talbot council. You can find out information about the eastern end of Fabian Way on the Neath Port Talbot roadworks (opens new window) website.

Where else can I find information about roadworks or traffic issues?

Neighbouring counties

Swansea borders Neath Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire councils.

Road works and road closures in Neath Port Talbot (opens new window)

Roadworks and road closures in Carmarthenshire (opens new window)

Roadworks and traffic issues across the UK

If you are looking for information about roads across the county there are a number of websites that can help.

Live roadworks (opens new window) displays roadworks from many local authorities and utility companies.

Traffic Wales (opens new window) provides information on traffic and roadworks on motorways and other trunk roads. They also display traffic cameras on a number of these roads.

Traffic information for the rest of the UK are provided by:

• Traffic England (opens new window)
• Traffic Scotland (opens new window)
• Transport for London (opens new window)
• Traffic watch Northern Ireland (opens new window)

There are a number of sites that provide live traffic updates and route planning. These include the AA (opens new window) and RAC (opens new window).

Local radio stations

There are a number of radio stations that cover the Swansea area that provide traffic updates.