I GET to hear about all kinds of issues in my role at the council, but if there is one subject which ignites passion among local people it is roadworks, writes DAVID RENARD.

Our town is expanding rapidly, which is why the road network is at the heart of the council’s Priority 1 – to improve infrastructure and housing to support a growing, low-carbon economy.

The need to keep our highways in good order has never been greater.

If you drive around Swindon today you will notice a number of projects are taking place to help prepare us for the inevitable increase in traffic on our roads.

Bruce Street Bridges has been remodelled to enable it to cope with the levels of traffic in the years to come.

And Greenbridge Roundabout is currently undergoing similar improvements.

In a few weeks motorists will start to see activity at Junction 16 of the M4 for the very same reasons.

These multi-million pound schemes inevitably cause disruption but they are necessary if we are to keep our town moving, now and in the future. Standing still is not an option.

A great deal of work has gone on in the Council’s Highways team, led by my Cabinet colleague Coun Dale Heenan, to schedule work so that we try to keep disruption on our road network to a minimum.

For example, we will be carrying out major resurfacing at Wootton Bassett Road and Kingsdown Crossroads over half-term.

This work was put on hold for two years so as not to cause additional disruption while various major schemes, including the Bruce Street Bridges and SSE electrical cabling took place.

However, we have a window to get the work done in the quieter period of the school holidays before, as in the case of Wootton Bassett Road, Junction 16 gets into full swing.

Unfortunately, even work that has been planned off-peak to keep queues to a minimum can go awry as we saw this week when we had to keep traffic lights on overnight on safety grounds while we replaced manhole covers in Purton Road.

The highways team is looking at different ways in which it can communicate with people to ensure they are aware of the work that is going on, and why.

A couple of weeks ago the team held a very successful event for borough and parish councillors to inform them of upcoming work and giving updates on some of the borough’s strategic infrastructure projects.

They are now exploring the possibility of organising a highways roadshow for members of the public to raise awareness of the team and the often unseen work they do.

The highways team also produces a fortnightly e-newsletter, Highways News, which provides the very latest updates on roadworks in the town and major highways schemes which affect you. It is well worth subscribing to if you haven’t already done so, visit www.swindon.gov.uk/newsletter.