Redland City Council’s island road seal program in 2018 has stepped up a gear.
The 2018-19 Green Seal schedule will cover 7,340 metres of road length and seal an area of 26,959 square metres.
It will involve the ‘green sealing’ of 15 roads on Macleay Island and 21 roads on Russell Island.
The council 2018/19 budget allocated of a further $1.8 million, bringing the total investment in sealing the island’s roads to $12.1 million since the project’s inception in 2014.
The allocations over the years have included the initial $2 million injection in the FY14/15 with additional injections in subsequent years of $1 million in 2015/16, $3.5 million in 2016/17, and $3.8 million in this financial year.
This investment in the islands has delivered approximately 40km of sealed roads across SMBI (excluding Coochiemudlo Island) since FY2014/15 and the additional funds in the FY2018/19 budget see at least an additional 6km planned, subject to final risk/constraint assessment.
The program is now making huge inroads into the island road seal program.
Council’s intention is to seal all roads already identified for sealing, which equates to approximately 15km yet unsealed on Macleay Island, and 35km on Russell Island.
Cr Mark Edwards, who convinced Redland City Council to introduce this method of road seal four years ago, says the program has been extremely successful.
“By using this quick seal method that applies x2 layers of bitumen on existing island roads with just minor preparation methods, it has enhanced the island road sealing program by many years.
“Under the old method at $1 million a kilometre building roads to mainland standards, it was going to take 30 years to seal all island roads.
“With the green seal program, we are now achieving approximately six times that value, which is a huge plus for the islands and road sealing here.
The ‘green seal’ method of road sealing has now moved to Macleay Island where it will be situated from August until the end of October sealing 15 roads.
In late October it will move back to Russell Island to seal 21 further additional roads.
At particular locations additional road widening and drainage works will also be undertaken as part of the Green Seal program.
The planned work timetable may be impacted by weather conditions.
• The attached list of the roads being sealed this financial year.