The Road Surface Treatments Association (RSTA) has praised the decision by Buckinghamshire County Council to release £3 million from its reserves to fund resurfacing of minor rural roads.
The extra £3 million is in addition to the £25 million already committed for road restoration and maintenance. It will be used for a 12-month programme of ‘plane and patch’ work to resurface badly worn sections of unclassified rural roads in 300 locations. The programme will be undertaken by Transport for Buckinghamshire (TfB), a public/private sector alliance run by Buckinghamshire County Council and Ringway Jacobs to deliver highway services within the county. The rural roads initiative is in addition to TfB’s largest road programme which will oversee the condition of over 220 road sections addressed.
“Buckinghamshire County Council is to be commended on their investment in their road network. Such planned programmes of maintenance are far better than expensive patch-and-mend”, said Howard Robinson, RSTA Chief Executive. However, he advised that: “Whilst recognising roads do eventually need to be resurfaced with asphalt, the extra £3million would probably provide better value if spent undertaking full surface dressing. This approach would ‘buy’ an extra 10 years of road service life before resurfacing becomes necessary.”