Cabinet will consider a £25.025m Highways Capital Programme for 2021/22 – which allocates major new funding for the Llanharan Bypass, A4119 dualling, Cynon Gateway North, as well as road maintenance and flood alleviation.
At the meeting on Thursday, March 25, Cabinet could agree the Programme which is split into two main allocations – £12.949m for Highways Technical Services and £12.076m for Strategic Projects. It will set the budget for the Highways and Transportation Service for next year, but is also independent from any Welsh Government funding secured for the 2021/22 financial year.
Highways Technical Services
There is a total allocation of £5.69m for carriageway improvements – £4.69m to continue the Council’s accelerated delivery of resurfacing and treatment at identified locations, and £500,000 each for minor surface repairs and essential repairs. Also, a £1.1m investment in footways, £200,000 for street lighting replacements and £45,000 for car parks is also proposed.
A £4.99m allocation for highway structures is included. Schemes to be progressed include the Nant Cwm Park Cantilever (A4061 Station Road) in Treorchy and Brook Street Footbridge in Ystrad, for which £2.75m of funding is carried over into 2021/22. Eleven previously-prepared reserve schemes are listed within the Programme, as well as 36 schemes which are in advanced preparation. A separate £750,000 fund for parks structures is also included.
In terms of Flood Alleviation, the Council is frequently able to benefit from 85% funding from Welsh Government for individual schemes. An allowance has been made to provide Council match funding for successful applications. In total, 10 Strategic Flood Risk area schemes are listed for progression in 2021/22, along with 12 small scale flood alleviation schemes and 19 Resilient Roads schemes – which are again reliant on Welsh Government funding.
The unprecedented weather of Storm Dennis in February 2020 caused huge infrastructure damage to roads, bridges, culvert and walls. Capital funding is being sought from Welsh Government to carry out a range of repairs, including for priorities such as the Berw Road Bridge in Pontypridd, Feeder Pipe Footbridge in Abercynon, Penydarren Tramroad Bridge in Trecynon, Merlin Bridge in Hopkinstown and the Blaen-y-Cwm Road river wall.
Strategic Projects
Several major highway infrastructure schemes are proposed for further funding in the Capital Programme, towards their delivery in the future. It follows the opening of the Mountain Ash Cross Valley Link in October 2020.
The Llanharan Bypass has made good recent progress, including completion of its preliminary design. It will see a new road built south of Llanharan and Dolau, meeting the A473 to the east and west of those communities. A pre-application planning consultation will be held in the summer. The Programme will allocate £1.5m to the scheme, bringing the total allocation to £3.86m.
The A4119 dualling will see a 1.5km section of road increased to a dual carriageway from Coed Ely Roundabout to Llantrisant Business Park in Ynysmaerdy – with detailed design ongoing. Planning consent for a footbridge at Coed Ely Roundabout has been granted, while the Compulsory Purchase Order for the project was made in November 2020. An additional £5.45m is being allocated to the scheme, bringing the total allocation to £7.81m.
The A465 Cynon Gateway North will extend the A4059 by 1.2km – from a point between Trecynon and Hirwaun, heading north to create a new link to the A465 Heads of the Valleys Road. Preliminary design is complete, and a pre-application planning consultation was held prior to a planning submission for the scheme made in late February 2021. An additional £1.78m is being allocated to the scheme, bringing the total allocation to £4.03m.
In addition, the Capital Programme allocates £568,000 for Park and Ride, and £1.8m to extend the Council’s Making Better Use Programme.
Councillor Andrew Morgan, Leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf Council and Cabinet Member with responsibility for Highways and Transportation, said: “Each year, the Council agrees a supplementary Capital Programme for Highways and Transportation, which provides investment right across the service – from maintaining and future-proofing our roads and structures, to flood alleviation work and progressing major highway infrastructure projects.
“The proposed £25.025m Programme which Cabinet Members will consider on Thursday has many positive aspects right across the board. If agreed, it will see £6.79m invested across road and footway resurfacing – continuing our accelerated investment over a number of years, which has seen a significant decrease in the percentage of Rhondda Cynon Taf roads which require maintenance. This is in addition to a £756,621 allocation from Welsh Government towards road maintenance, which was confirmed on March 15.
“Rectifying damage from Storm Dennis firmly remains a priority for the service, and the Council is working hard to design and secure funding for structures projects across the County Borough. I was pleased that M&S Bridge reopened on March 19 following completion of an important repair scheme. Important focus is also placed on proactive flood alleviation work in the Capital Programme, which outlines a list of schemes to be progressed.
“The Programme also proposes more than £8.5m investment across three of our major future highway infrastructure schemes – Llanharan Bypass, A4119 dualling from Coed Ely to Ynysmaerdy, and A465 Cynon Gateway North. The Council’s delivery of the Mountain Ash Cross Valley Link in October 2020 reiterated our commitment and ability to making these ambitious, long-term aspirations a reality – and the funding proposed for the three schemes will allow further progress towards work being able to start on site in the future.”
A full list of schemes within the proposed Highways Capital Programme for 2021/22 is included in a report to Thursday’s Cabinet meeting.
Posted on 22/03/2021