Where are Scotland’s worst areas for potholes?
More than one in four of the busiest roads maintained by Scotland’s councils need repairs, but official figures have shown conditions have improved in more than half of their areas since last year, The Scotsman has learned.
In findings which might be met with disbelief among drivers, main streets in both Edinburgh and Glasgow were among those found to be in a better state, by up to 3 percentage points.
Overall, non-trunk A roads improved by 0.2 points, leaving 27.4 per cent classed as “should be considered for maintenance treatment”. B roads were 2.1 points better with 31.5 per cent needing work, C roads were 0.5 points improved at 32.7 percent and unclassified minor roads 0.3 per cent better at 36.4 per cent.
Among A roads, there was a wide variation between councils,with best-performing shetland having only 13.4 percent needing work compared to Argyll and Bute’s 37.4 per cent. Scottish borders was next worst at 34.7 per cent. South Ayrshire was the most improved council for A roads, with a near 6 point fall in those needing repair to 23 per cent, while Midlothian’s deteriorated the most, by 5 points to 29.3 per cent.
Glasgow’s A roads, which include the A82 Great Western Road and the A8 Alexandra Parade, were 2.8 points better with 28.4 per cent requiring work. Edinburgh’s equivalent roads, which include A700 Lothian Road and the A1 London Road, were 2.2 points better at 27.4 per cent.
The Improvement Service (Is ), which advises local authorities and published the figures, said total annual council spending on road maintenance had fallen by 9 percent since 2010– a reduction of more than £70 million to£685m.
It said: “Councils are having to make increasingly difficult decisions about the shape and level of service delivery as a result of deepening fiscal, workforce and demand pressures. Ringfenced funding for Scottish Government priorities means that councils are left with little option, but to target increased savings in other areas.”
Neil greig, the scotland-based policy adviser to the IAM Roadsmart motoring group, was impatient for faster improvements. He said: “Most surveys of drivers show confidence in the ability of local authorities to maintain our roads is at an all-time low. The proportion in need of work has hardly shifted in the last six years despite the millions thrown at it in emergency pothole funds and other crisis funding. This underlines the need for a long-term approach to eliminating the backlog of road maintenance on Scotland’s local roads.”
Argyll and Bute Council said its roads had “steadily improved” over the past eight years, but nearly one quarter were built on peat, which made repairs more complex.
A spokesperson for Scottish Borders Council said it wasn’t able to make permanent repairs to all defects and had to “apply a prioritisation process to determine our annual programme, which meets available budgets ”.
Edinburgh City Council transport convener Scott Arthur, who has admitted the capital’s roads were in a “shameful” state, said the figures showed its repairs were having a “real impact”.
The proportion in need of work has hardly shifted in the last six years