Wait for white lines Council ‘could take on some roadworks’ to speed up jobs

BRISTOL City Council should do some roadworks in house according to councillors after waiting five months for white lines to be repainted. A major road running through the north of the city was left without a centre line for almost half a year due to delays getting a contractor.

- Alex SEABROOK Local democracy reporter

Many parts of Bristol are covered in roadworks at the moment, with the amount expected to increase over the next couple of years. Some works take a very long time, such as on the A4174 Hengrove Way and Airport Road, which are taking more than two years to complete.

Across the country lots of councils often hire companies to carry out tasks like maintaining the roads. In theory, private companies “drive innovation” and work more efficiently and cheaply than councils could directly. In reality, locals often complain of seeing few people working.

In recent years there has been a wider shift away from outsourcing and back towards councils doing jobs themselves. Councillors on the transport policy committee said Bristol should consider doing the same with some basic roadworks, too, on Thursday, September 11.