Green light for £5m investment in Rotherham’s roads
Published Friday, 9th October 2015
A £5million capital investment by Rotherham Council to repair the borough’s roads and potholes over the next two years is well underway, with over half of the identified sites already completed.
The work on over 50 different sites in the network of unclassified (estate) roads is one of the Council’s key priorities and is on target for completion before the end of March 2016.
The priority sites for the first year of the programme in 2015/16 have been put forward by elected councillors following feedback from residents in helping to identify the estate roads that will benefit the most from this added investment. £3m has already been allocated for the planned works in 2015/16 and a further £2m for resurfacing work in 2016/17.
The project has also opened doors for five young people in new apprenticeship roles within the Council’s Streetpride team. The apprentices are a significant boost to the team which already employs three young people who completed their apprenticeships earlier this year.
Rotherham Council’s Advisory Cabinet Member for Waste, Roads and Enforcement, Councillor Kath Sims thanked councillors and residents for their help in working with council officers on the project.
“Elected councillors and residents have worked with our highways officers to maximise the benefit of the limited funding for road maintenance and repairs.
“Despite the extensive works, which have seen entire roads stripped back ready to be resurfaced, the feedback from members of the public has been very positive.
“It’s also extremely heartening to know the project is giving jobs to local young people through the apprenticeship programme. I’ve no doubt that the three young people who have just completed their apprenticeship programme and are now employed working for the council will have some invaluable advice for the new apprentices and help them as much as possible in their training.”
Colin Knight, Highway Network Group Manager at Rotherham Council, who oversees the project, said “This is one of the largest projects of its type in the borough and with over 700 miles of roads to cover is a real challenge. Our planned repair programme is ongoing and whilst a substantial amount of the budget has been allocated we are still adding to the list of improvements for next year.
Pictured are some of Streetpride's newly qualified apprentices and Councillor Kath Sims at one of the recently resurfaced roads, (from left) Alex Wharmsby, Connor Heyden, Cllr Sims and Ross Moorhouse.
For more information on the highway works programme for 2015-16 visit our web pages:
Visit our roads and transport pages