£1.6bn cost of road repairs is ‘not possible’

SCOTLAND’S roads are crumbling because it is ‘not possible’ to tackle a backlog of £1.6billion of repairs, according to council bosses.

SNP funding cuts have been blamed for the deteriorating condition of roads across the country.

This year, the Scottish Government cut £170million from council budgets – and has stripped £1.5billion from their funding since 2011.

The figures on outstanding repairs were obtained by the Scottish parliament’s independence research centre (SPICe) from the Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland (SCOTS).

Asked to calculate how long it would take to fix roads which require maintenance, SCOTS said: ‘At current (decreasing) levels of funding it is simply not possible to “fix” all of Scotland’s roads that need maintenance.

‘Most roads authorities have budgets which are lower than that required to maintain roads at the current state.

‘It is possible to calculate the cost to remove all significant defects currently existing. The 2017 calculation assesses the backlog figure at £1,671,425,000.’

The scale of the repairs backlog emerged after research revealed more than 154,000 potholes were reported to Scottish councils last year – more than any other part of the UK.

Neil Bibby, transport spokesman for Scottish Labour, said: ‘Many motorists are already frustrated at the state of Scotland’s roads but they will be stunned to learn that transport experts have deemed it impossiannually ble to repair all of the country’s roads at current funding levels.

‘The SNP must stop cutting council budgets and properly fund local authorities so that they can invest effectively in repairing our roads. Further cuts will only make matters worse.’

Scotland’s councils are responsible for repairs to local town and city roads. The Scottish Government uses its own funding for repairs to trunk roads and motorways. Transport Scotland revealed earlier this year that an extra £22million would be needed for trunk roads just to ‘maintain current conditions’, and an extra £39million a year over 20 years to bring them up to the same standard as England.

Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Jamie Greene said: ‘Scotland’s roads have only got worse, and now experts are saying there is no prospect of them getting any better.

‘For too long Scots have had to put up with roads that are dangerous and damage vehicles.

‘It’s unacceptable, and the SNP need to heed this warning as a spur for finally investing more money in our roads.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The local road network is the responsibility of local authorities and it is up to them to allocate resources based on local priorities.

‘We have treated local government very fairly despite the cuts to the Scottish budget from the UK Government.’

A spokesman for Transport Minister Humza Yousaf said: ‘The SNP Government is investing massively in transport infrastructure like dualling the A9, delivering the Aberdeen bypass and building the new Queensferry Crossing – all projects which Labour failed to take forward when they were in office.’

Letters – Page 59

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