£3million will get roads back on track
A major roads improvement project is set to get underway after new investment of £3million was confirmed this week.
Residential roads and pavements across East Renfrewshire will benefit from the funding as work to upgrade and enhance the local road network is set to continue.
It comes as part of the 2022/23 roads maintenance programme where 68 residential roads and pavements were identified for improvement.
The additional £3million of resources alongside other annual budgets will improve the condition of 53 roads and 15 pavements across the area.
A percentage of East Renfrewshire’s roads are assessed and reported on nationally by an independent body each year.
The council is currently ranked second in Scotland for the condition of its A class roads - first on mainland Scotland.
A class roads are classed as the most important routes for residents and visitors.
In its 2019/20 budget, the council committed an additional £15m capital investment for roads infrastructure over the following five years.
The council’s A and B class road network is classed as in a relatively good condition and the majority of the additional £3m allocation for 2022/23 has been directed towards residential roads - C and unclassified class roads.
As with previous years, a number of factors are taken into consideration when prioritising which roads will benefit from the programme each year.
These include structural condition, usage, cost of maintenance for the previous three years and geographical spread.
Roads and pavements set to be resurfaced over the coming year include: Campsie Avenue, Barrhead, Lomond Drive, Newton Mearns, Glen Roy Drive, Neilston, Claremount Avenue, Giffnock, Glenbank Drive, Thornliebank, Hillside Avenue, Clarkston, Elm Street, Busby, Leebank Drive, Netherlee, Riverside Road, Waterfoot, and Lynn Drive,
Eaglesham.
Andy Cahill, director of Environment at East Renfrewshire Council, said: “We recognise how important high quality roads are for everyone who lives, works and visits East Renfrewshire, and we aim to improve our transport network year on year, so I’m delighted that 68 roads and pavements have been approved for resurfacing for the year ahead - on top of our annual programme of works.
“It’s fantastic that 128 projects have been completed since this additional capital investment for roads infrastructure was first approved four years ago.
“This funding is absolutely vital as it allows us to make vast improvements to roads which would not have received any treatment other than safety defect repairs.
“We’re continuing to receive positive feedback from local residents who are seeing a noticeable difference in their area, so I look forward to seeing these projects getting under way in the year ahead.”
In addition to these resurfacing works, around £300,000 of this additional budget has been spent each year on upgrading street lighting and replacing lanterns with more energy-efficient LEDs and 15 sets of traffic signals and pedestrian crossings have also been replaced and upgraded.
As well as the resurfacing programme, the council also ensure that all potholes reported are inspected as soon as possible, with the most serious potholes prioritised for repair.