IS THIS BRITAIN'S SMOOTHEST ROAD?

A new high-tech road surface in Oxfordshire could herald a cycling revolution — Vern Pitt rides it to find out more

- Vern Pitt

Curbridge in Oxfordshire is a pleasant but unassuming little place. Surrounded by gently rolling green fields, there’s an austere charm to the sandy grey cottages that house the village’s 500 inhabitants, all set against the background hum of the nearby A40 Witney bypass. You wouldn’t think it but this could well be ground zero for a cycling revolution.

Main Road, which as the name suggests, runs through the centre of this tiny settlement, was resurfaced in November with graphene-enhanced black top. It’s an experiment to see if the material can be deployed across the country. Like any newly resurfaced road, it’s a smooth, pleasant experience to ride, but that’s not really the point.

“There are thoughts around extending the life by about 50 per cent, maybe more, so you can imagine how huge the potential is,” says Richard Lovell, business director for Oxfordshire at construction firm Skanska, which laid the road.

Graphene has been used in a handful of cycling products already, but Lovell explains that here it works by enhancing the “black, gooey stuff” that holds the road together. “When that fails, the stones fall out of the road surface,” he says. As graphene is the strongest material ever discovered, you’d expect it to do a better job of holding the stones in. Initial tests with a road laid in central Rome using the same materials have yielded positive results, Lovell adds.