Council’s highways budget could reach £20m this year

Richard Youle, local democracy reporter

Spending on roads, pavements, cycle paths and other transport schemes could reach £20 million in the coming year in Swansea, according to council chiefs.

There is an estimated £70 million roads maintenance backlog in the county, plus significant funding pressures relating to the 147 bridges and 50 culverts in the council’s ownership.

Cabinet members have approved highways infrastructure spending of £11.7 million for 2025-26, and it is hoped further grants would increase this to £20 million. The authority has information about road resurfacing schemes on the highways section of its website.

Potholes

Repairing potholes is another part of the highways work, and cabinet member for environment and infrastructure Cllr Andrew Stevens said 5,000 were fixed last year. Referring to the investment for 2025-26, he said: “With this funding we can do even more to improve the city’s infrastructure.” Further work will also take place, he said, on the new coastal path between Limeslade and Rotherslade.

Council leader Rob Stewart said a new Welsh Government-backed borrowing scheme is helping it and other local authorities invest more in roads. Without it the 2025-26 investment in Swansea would be £4.2 million less. Cllr Stewart said the predicted £20 million expenditure was a “truly remarkable amount”.

Cabinet also considered a report which set out Welsh Government grant applications totalling £6.6 million for cycling infrastructure upgrades, electric vehicle charging points, and modelling work to make traffic on Carmarthen Road and High Street flow more smoothly. The largest individual grant application was £2.9 million to continue developing the Swansea Bay and West Wales Metro – a project aiming to create a modern, integrated transport network in Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire.

Cycling project

There is only one large-scale cycling project earmarked for 2025-26 – a £1 million scheme running nearly 2.5km between Mayals and Bishopston across Clyne Common – but development work on future cycle schemes, such as one between Gowerton and Penclawdd, is proposed. In recent weeks work to widen the Clyne Valley shared-use path between Blackpill and Gowerton has got under way.

Another chunk of the £6.6 million ask of the Welsh Government is new electric vehicle charging infrastructure worth £669,000. This would include ultra rapid charging points at Clydach, Mumbles, Gowerton and Penclawdd, and a contactless payment option at 35 existing charge points.

If approved the £6.6 million will be in addition to the £11.7 million authorised by cabinet, and the council said it hoped further funding would take the overall highways and transport investment to around £20 million.