Motoring misery amid 5,700 roadworks

THE extent of Scotland’s roadwork chaos has been revealed in a series of online maps showing that almost 5,700 separate sets of work are planned by councils and private firms in the next fortnight.

The maps graphically display city and town centres throughout the country festooned with red and orange warning triangles, 2,500 of them crammed into the Central Belt.

The maps appear on the website of the Scottish Road Works Commissioner, the quango frequently accused of doing too little to combat the menace of endlessly dugup roads.

An overall map of Scotland shows 1,934 roadworks in the Glasgow area, 1,344 in the Edinburgh area and 398 in Aberdeen. Inverness drivers are suffering 106 sets of works while in Stirling there are 95.

There are also more than 50 sets of works in the Western Isles and 20 in Orkney.

Kevin Delaney, head of road safety at the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said: ‘The roadworks map suggests that a very large number are being undertaken on the same roads and streets and at the same time.’

A spokesman for the AA said: ‘You see problems arise because of a lack of communication between roadworks being carried out by councils and those being carried out by utilities.

‘This can result in the same road being dug up all over again, which is frustrating for road users.’

A spokesman for The Scottish Roadworks Commissioner said: ‘Roads authorities and utility companies have a duty to co-ordinate their road works.

‘The SRWR is used to facilitate this duty to co-ordinate.’