£7.2m roads upgrade is nearing completion

Almost 70 carriageways have been resurfaced

09.11.2018 A £7.2million programme to upgrade Renfrewshire’s roads is now nearing completion.

It has been confirmed that the scheduled resurfacing of roads and footways - which started in April - is now 75 per cent finished.

A total of 68 roads have undergone resurfacing, while 24 carriageways have been surface dressed.

Between April and September, 24.6 kilometres of roads were resurfaced.

More than 8,000 potholes were filled in the area - a 25 per cent increase on the 6,400 filled during the same period last year.

The figures were published in a report to Wednesday’s Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board, revealing the department’s performance across roads, waste collection and work place absence.

The council’s environment team is currently finalising preparation for waste changes, which will kickstart on November 12.

The delivery of the new green bin - for plastics, cans and glass - will take place between November 12 and 30.

The new routes have been rubber stamped, with the first collection of residual waste taking place on December 3.

During the first six months of the year, 48 per cent of household waste was recycled - a three per cent increase on the same period last year.

Changes to bin collections aim to further boost recycling, as evidence has shown 69 per cent of rubbish put in general waste could have been recycled.

As part of the changes, the blue bin will be for paper and cardboard only and will be collected on alternative fortnights with the green bin.

Meanwhile, the council has been working to clean the local environment, with more than 9,000 gullies and 150 tonnes of waste removed between April and September.

Almost 800 bags of rubbish have been collected, as 5,460 additional hours of community litter picking were clocked during the six-month period.

The local authority is also looking to tackle absence levels within the department, after it lost an average of 6.93 days per full-time employee - 2.63 days more than its target level.

Long-term absence accounts for 80 per cent of the overall rate, with short- term taking up the remaining 20 per cent.

The council has introduced physiotherapy at its Underwood Road depot to combat the problem, while it has confirmed it is working closely with HR to improve how it manages absence.