Leicester County road improvements are using new environmentally friendly techniques
Leicestershire Builds Greener Highways
Leicestershire’s roads are getting greener and cleaner thanks to the use of recycled materials and carbon friendly techniques to resurface highways.
In a bid to be more environmentally friendly, Leicestershire County Council has used around 5000 recycled tyres during the resurfacing of the A426 Blaby bypass.
Warm mix and lower energy materials were used to lay the courses of asphalt, instead of the traditional hot materials, saving around 22 tonnes of carbon.
At Blaby, new eco-friendly road markings are being trialled northbound on the bypass while the southbound carriageway has been marked with traditional thermoplastic markings.
This means that a direct comparison can be made on the wear and tear of both products.
Across three bypass projects the county council is saving a total of 32 tonnes of carbon, the equivalent to the emissions generated by travelling over 165,000 miles in a standard car.
The trial is in line with the council’s pledge to become a carbon neutral council by 2030 and to achieve ‘net zero’ across the county by 2045, five years earlier than the Government target.
