THE HOLE TRUTH
Only one of our councils promises immediate action to protect cars
ONLY one of Scotland’s 32 councils says it takes immediate action to respond to the worst potholes on its roads, a study has found.
And 12 councils have admitted leaving gaping holes in road surfaces for as long as 24 hours before taking action.
Of all the local authorities in Scotland, only South Lanarkshire Council told researchers it responded to the most serious potholes “immediately”
North Lanarkshire was second top across the country with a 90-minute response time, followed by Renfrewshire, Moray, East Ayrshire, Aberdeen, East Renfrewshire and Orkney at two hours.
But council officials in Edinburgh, Fife, Highland, Falkirk, West Lothian, East Lothian, Midlothian, Borders, Angus, Clackmannanshire, Western Isles and Shetland all admitted it took them 24 hours to act over the worst potholes, which can cause serious damage to cars.
Scotland’s biggest council, Glasgow City, failed to provide any data for the study, as did South Ayrshire, West Dunbartonshire and Dumfries and Galloway.
Transport Scotland, which maintains our motorways and other major roads, said its repair firms were required to make defects safe by 6am on the day after they were identified.
Motoring research group the RAC Foundation carried out the study.
Director Steve Gooding told The Scotsman: “It is understandable that large rural authorities set themselves longer response times, simply as a result of having to travel further to effect repairs.
“But motorists might still be surprised to see such a wide variation across the country.
“Those particularly vulnerable to potholes – cyclists and motorcyclists – might ask whether speed of investigation should be based solely on the risk users.” Local authorities were increasingly adopting a “risk-based approach” to fixing road defects, according to the foundation. As a result, traffic volume and the mix of road users were taken into account when deciding how fast to act, as well as the size of the pothole. Nearly all councils will only fix potholes above a certain size – but those sizes vary widely, from between 20mm and 30mm to at least 50mm deep. The UK Roads Liaison Group – a collaboration of national and local government – recommends primary, secondary and main distributor roads are inspected once a month, link roads once a quarter, and local roads annually. Inspections aim to identify not just potholes, but damaged or missing manhole covers and drain grates and damage to the edge of the carriageway.
The Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland, which represents roads officials, said: “Each council sets out its own response times and priorities for the repair of carriageway and other defects. These will vary because of differences in geography, population and traffic flows.”