Last year the department used GripFibre in St John and has since used it on roads in St Helier and St Clement. GripFibre is cheaper – by around one-third – than the traditional resurfacing material and, according to the Infrastructure Department, is designed to ‘extend the life of the road’ and has a much better skid resistance compared to asphalt, however, it cannot be used on all roads.
Last month an industry expert told the JEP that in his view, the material is unsuitable for many Jersey roads – a claim that the department has denied, and according to St John Constable Chris Taylor, cracks have already appeared in six places less than a year since the new material was laid, including one crack measuring up to four feet.
Now, Tony Perkins, who lives on Green Road in St Clement, said that the road re-surfacing work was ‘terrible’ and the GripFibre material looked ‘cheap and nasty’.
