Tag: Melvin Way

Melvin Way is back on a list of roads selected for re-surfacing, but of the 91 sites across the county now scheduled for some type of surface treatment, this is the only one in Histon & Impington.

Five roads in the village were earmarked for treatment in 2022/23 when Micro Asphalt was due to be applied to prevent further deterioration and extend their life.

Although ‘carriageway patching’ was done in Melvin Way to prepare a suitable surface for this work, when inflation squeezed the highways maintenance budget, other roads in the county were deemed to be greater priorities. The pavements were pre-patched and slurry sealed in 2023, but the roadway work was never completed.

Limitations

While other streets in Histon & Impington may appear to be more deserving of surface improvements than Melvin Way, County Councillor Ros Hathorn pointed out that Micro Asphalt treatment is “like a thin layer of butter – if the potholes are too deep it won’t work”.

She told HI HUB: “It is really important to stress that this is not a ‘resurface’, and that this type of treatment is cheap and cheerful and simply not available to Pepys Terrace, Milton Road or Impington Lane as they are in too poor a state of repair. This is intended to stop the decay of roads in a relatively good state of repair. It can’t fix roads which are too far gone.” 

Drop in the ocean

The newly announced plans to improve some of the county’s roads have been drawn up following the Government promise of £10 million in 2025/6 to Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority for highways capital maintenance. It replaces the £2.3m potholes funding from HS2 cancellation, which has been withdrawn. 

But the contribution that the £10 million will make to the backlog of highways maintenance in the region – estimated at £600 million – will inevitably be minimal, and £2.5 million of this has to be held back until the Peterborough and Cambridgeshire Councils have proved they will meet some criteria that have yet to be specified.

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