Yardley Road Repairs Update

Following complaints from residents about the condition of the road, I arranged a site meeting with a team from Amey on Yardley Road. This has been partly resurfaced, but the central section of the road (roughly from the rail bridge down to Cottesbrook Junior School entrance) has not yet been done. I walked the road length with the design and plans officer, the highway steward and an inspector to discuss what needs to be done. Again, the condition of the road has been raised by residents (and I'm only too well aware of it myself).

It was originally scheduled for repair under the rolling five year plan, but when I checked the new edition of this constantly updating document, Yardley Road had fallen out of the plan. This wasn't satisfactory, so I arranged to meet the team on-site.

The inspector has logged a number of urgent faults that will be rectified rapidly - they now do this with a handheld GPS device that instantly records what and where the fault is so that it can be scheduled with the repairs team. I did point out that some of the surface damage is actually quite a hazard to cyclists.

There is also a need to carry out more in-depth repairs to the road surface, to match the other two sections which have already been dealt with. Roads are prioritised for repair and surfacing works to ensure that the worst sections of carriageway are dealt with first and damage may not always be apparent to the naked eye. The photos indicate some obvious problems, but detailed inspection, including specialist testing equipment can reveal deeper problems. Fortunately, most of the problems with Yardley Road are actually surface-related.

This section was inspected during the summer and the planner will be checking that this inspection actually corresponds with the damage that he has seen, as that will affect the priority of the road. If that doesn't help, it will be put forward as part of the 'change programme' for addition to a future work plan. I'm hopeful that this will be dealt with by early 2013 at the latest, but I will keep pushing on this.