In a first for New South Wales councils, the Blacktown City Council has trialled a new coating for its local roads that aims to reduce urban heat.
Council partnered with Western Sydney University (WSU), City of Parramatta Council and Campbelltown City Council to investigate the effects of CoolSeal coating in reducing surface heat on roads and carparks.
The light grey-coloured coating was trialled on five streets in Ropes Crossing last year, with heat monitoring conducted by WSU over the summer.
Recently released results from the trial show that unshaded pavements coated in CoolSeal were between six and eleven degrees celsius cooler than uncoated pavements.
Blacktown City Mayor, Tony Bleasdale, said the revolutionary trial was a positive step in Council exploring measures to combat the issue of rising urban heat.
“In recent years, we have seen the catastrophic consequences of rising temperatures on our environment and therefore Council is committed to reducing heat stress in Blacktown City,” Mayor Bleasdale said.
“Urban development and climate change are accelerating this issue, with climate modelling for our region predicting an increase of up to ten days over 35 degree celsius over the coming years.
“Studies have found that increasing heat is the largest risk to local populations and economies across our region.
“Blacktown City and Western Sydney consistently record higher summer temperatures than the average for metropolitan Sydney, so it is crucial we look at ways to reduce the urban heat impact and improve quality of life in our City.”
The trial found that the product was especially effective in reducing the surface temperatures of unshaded surfaces on hot days.
The effect on ambient temperatures is yet to be determined due to the limited size of the trial areas.
Council is also exploring additional measures to reduce the temperature of road surfaces, including the use of light-coloured aggregate in road surfacing, the use of clear asphalt binder in place of black binder, and the use of concrete pavements.
Blacktown City roads included in the trial were Mortlock Avenue, O’Donoghue Street, Burnet Court, Bartlett Avenue and Kobe Street – all in the suburb of Ropes Crossing.
