Council reveals road resurfacing plans
The Vale of Glamorgan Council has unveiled a three-year road resurfacing plan and trialled a new environmentally friendly way of carrying out such work.
A report approved by the Council’s Cabinet provides details on how the highway will be managed and maintained until April 2027.
It includes information on which roads across the County are to be improved first - with Port Road East in Barry, Paget Road in Penarth and Grove Road in Llandow near the top of the list - and the method used to prioritise locations.
Cycle and pedestrian routes will also be included, while the Council recently tested a new greener resurfacing system on Barry’s Skomer Road.
Working with construction company Miles Macadam, a substance called Biopave was used, which is designed to significantly reduce the environmental impact of road resurfacing and maintenance.
Carbon is captured within the road surface meaning it can’t be released into the atmosphere and the use of recycled materials substantially lowers greenhouse gas emissions as these do not need to be quarried.
The durability of the Biopave system, which has a five-year warranty instead of one, also means roads require less frequent maintenance, decreasing the amount of materials used and money spent in the long run.
Other low cost and low carbon road treatment types, including surface dressing and micro asphalt, are already used by the Council to preserve roads.
Surface dressing is an innovative type of sealant, while micro asphalt can be laid more thinly and requites less heat than alternatives.
Cllr Mark Wilson, Vale of Glamorgan Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Services and Transport, said: “Maintaining our highway network is an important responsibility for this Council as is trying to carry out all work in a way that has as little impact on the environment as possible.
“The Revised Highway Maintenance Three Year Resurfacing Plan 2024 – 2027 sets out how we will improve roads during this period, which areas will be tackled first and the reasons for this.
“In addition, we recently tested a new resurfacing system that is significantly greener than traditional methods.
“Initial results are very encouraging and align perfectly with the Council’s Project Zero commitment to become carbon neutral by 2030 so we look forward to further exploring this option.”
Identified by the Council's Highway Engineers as requiring treatment, all roads listed within the resurfacing plan have been assessed over the last 18 months in accordance with the Carriageway Resurfacing Prioritisation Scoring System.
This allocates roads a number relating to their condition, with those that score highest identified for repair this year until the allocated £350,000 budget for surface dressing and micro asphalt has been spent. Remaining roads will then be earmarked for repair during 2025/26.
Plans also include a list of roads suggested for attention by residents and other stakeholders that are awaiting assessment and a procedure for any emergency repairs to be carried out.