Cabinet Member inspects new phase of road resurfacing

More than 200 roads and pavements across Buckinghamshire are in line for £16m improvement works.

And yesterday (Wednesday June 8), County Council Cabinet Member Mark Shaw visitedone of the daytime road surfacing schemes with his deputy, Paul Irwin, to inspect the progress being made with the programme.

The one-and-a-half mile rural stretch ofPeters Lane, between Princes Risborough and Great Hampden, is one of 29 ‘surface dressing’ schemes being worked on this financial year by Transport for Buckinghamshire (TfB), of which 20 have already been prepared ahead of final surfacing.

Contractors have spent this week (w/b June 6) targetingthe surface of badly damaged sections andpatching them, and then next week (w/b June 13) will start resurfacing the whole road with two layers of dressing, before replacing white lines,at a total costof £85,000.

Mark explained this method caught the road surface before it deteriorated too far, prolonged the life of the road, and savedmoney on having to do major repairs later.

‘It’s important that we’re systematic in maintaining our roads: not only filling potholes orrepairing the really poor surfaces, but also treating those where we can catchthem before they fail. Thismakes the money go further and allows us totreat more roads,’ said Mark.

‘With our resurfacing programmewe’re doing the best we can within thebudget tokeep our roads safe and secure for road users, and our aim is to get the best value for money on behalf of our residents,’ said Mark.

The Peters Lane resurfacing is one of more than 200 schemes covering 68 miles of road -long enough to stretch between the northernand southern tips of Buckinghamshire.

As well as the 29 ‘surface dressing’ schemes, TfB will fully resurface more than 30 badly damaged roads, and carry out seven footway improvement schemes. The programme also includes more than 100 ‘micro-surfacing’ schemes to preserve and protect roads, and around 50 ‘plane and patch’ projects to replace large areas of worn surface.