Make do and mend - Road resurfacing the retread method

Birch Road being retread resurfaced

Kirklees Councils roads are in a notoriously poor condition and no party on the Council has ever grasped the issue and addressed it. All of the larger parties have talked about it and said what an important issue the poor state of the roads are  but there has always been precious little difference in the amount of funding put into the roads. That was true before austerity hit and if more Kirklees money went into social care and good works then all well and good. Now we are up against the wall of massive cuts in local funding, the poor state of our roads is becoming ever more evident and they will get worse as each winter goes by. It is not for nothing that the Councils pothole budget has been used up well before the year end.

In Newsome Ward we've had similar issues and 2 local roads, Birch Road and Templar Drive,
which are in a very poor condition have just been resurfaced using the 'retread' method. Under this technique the old surface is broken up  and crushed, mixed with tar and a layer of gravel put over the top. This is significantly cheaper than conventional resurfacing and can last up to 10 years dependent on usage and conditions. We have had to use up the small amount of local ward funds to ensure Templar Drive was completed and we are keen to find funding for the adjacent Broadgate Crescent  which is also in a poor state.