25/07/2024 - Luton Council starts extensive road improvement programme

The council’s contractor VolkerHighways, who maintain over 480km of Luton’s roads, supported by specialist companies, will work on over 221,000 m2 of roads in this financial year. These roads will either be completely resurfaced or be treated with surface treatments such as surface dressing, asphalt preservation, asphalt rejuvenation or micro-asphalt treatments, as well as defect repairs and pothole repairs.

Surface treatments help to protect and preserve newer road surface meaning they will last longer as well as reduce the number of potholes forming in the future. They also help with Luton’s carbon reduction commitments, being 90% more carbon efficient compared to other more traditional treatments. Some of these treatments can extend the life of a road by more than 10 years.

Often, many of these treatments can be applied to the roads at night-causing far less disruption to the travelling public and meaning they can be re-opened in just a few hours after work has been completed.

Recent survey results showed that residents consider the condition of Luton’s road as the highest priority when asked for feedback about highways and transportation issues.

Cllr Javed Hussain portfolio holder for Highways at Luton Council said, “We understand that keeping roads in good condition is one of the most important issues for those that live and work in Luton. That’s why we have approved a significant investment in pothole repairs, resurfacing and important surface treatments that will help stop potholes from forming in the first place. The impressive programme of works for 2024/25 shows our commitment to acting on residents wishes and concerns, alongside helping address our need to cut carbon.”

Jerry Pert, Operations Director for VolkerHighways, said, “Keeping Luton connected is at the heart of our work. We are pleased to be working collaboratively with Luton Council to roll out this next programme of resurfacing works to restore our roads to the condition you expect, while minimising disruption to all who use Luton’s roads.”

The treatments being undertaken include:

Surface Dressing:

Surface dressing is a cost-effective way of restoring the road surface and sealing it in one process. It also helps waterproof the road and improve skid resistance, so it is safer for all vehicles to travel on.

Asphalt Preservation:

Asphalt preservation keeps the roads in better condition for longer. When we spray asphalt preservation on the road, it penetrates into cracks and other inconsistencies, preventing water ingress and stopping potholes from forming on the surface of the road. Asphalt preservation is more than 90% more carbon efficient compared to the more traditional maintenance processes.

Rejuvenation:

Asphalt rejuvenation penetrates the asphalt well below the surface to protect the asphalt binder that is in the surface of the road. It seals the road surface against air, water and chemicals, which extends the effective service life of the pavement.

Micro-asphalt:

Micro-asphalt is a material used to provide a new surface layer to an existing road. It contains bitumen emulsion, fine aggregate, cement and water. It is a surface treatment applied over an existing road surface.

Find out more about our road treatment programme and how to report a pothole.