Hundreds of roads resurfaced during 2024

The additional investment in Wirral Council’s annual highways structural maintenance programme this year has been paying off with hundreds of roads and footways receiving resurfacing work during 2024.

The first part of the programme back in April was using Hot Rolled Asphalt (HRA) to treat and repair some of the busiest roads in the borough needing it. It is chosen for those roads because it is the most durable surface treatment available to local authorities and can last up to 20 years. 

However, it is also the most carbon hungry so needs to be used selectively, which is why it is usually prioritised for use on main and commercial routes that carry heavy traffic.

The HRA part of the programme is being delivered in two phases. Phase one is complete, with 25 roads receiving this treatment. Work on a further 12 roads began in November, with two already completed and the remaining 10 to be completed in early 2025.

The surface dressing part of the programme is also now complete on the 112 roads scheduled for this kind of treatment, which in Wirral is augmented by a further Lock Chip treatment that is designed to lock the chipping into the road surface to prevent water damage to the treated surface.

Micro surfacing, which is mostly used on local roads, is laid over the existing surface to restore some profile and extend the surface life. This usually lasts for 10 plus years, depending on road use, and has been used to repair 105 roads in Wirral this year. This is more or less complete now, with crews currently just relining and adjusting ironworks where necessary. A further 43 sites received other forms of surface treatment.

Of the 14 footway full reconstructions scheduled for 2024, seven have been completed with a further seven programmed for completion in the coming months. This has been backed up by footway slurry resurfacing on a further 45 sites, with 55 more to be completed in 2025.