With the SNP stuck in a constitutional dead end, our roads are now worst in UK

SOME weeks ago, I asked my Facebook followers their opinion on the state of the roads in the west of Scotland.

The outpouring of responses was enormous and the issue sparked a frenzy of debate and contributions, but I was particularly struck by one comment left by a user: ‘In Scotland we no longer drive on the left of the road, we drive on what is left of the road.’

This sums up a lot of the anger that Scots experience every day. Our roads are in a shocking state.

Driving, which is an absolute necessity for many, is increasingly dangerous. Motorists are regularly faced with gaping potholes they need to swerve to avoid, as well as flooding and surface deterioration.

As an MSP for the West Scotland region I am regularly contacted by constituents who have incurred costs of hundreds of pounds in repairs to their cars, ranging from anything from a cracked windscreen to their bumper falling off, as a direct result of the poor condition of the roads.

Neglect

Motorists are angry at the costs, concerned about their safety and dismayed at the neglect paid to this issue.

Swerving to avoid potholes is the new norm on the M77 – a good day for many is simply making it home with their tyres still intact. A bad day might see you lose your bumper.

A recent report showed that 30 per cent of Scottish A-roads were classed as red or amber, rising to 35 per cent for Broads – totalling 4,771km (2,964miles) of roads that were in need of urgent repair.

In England, the figures are 3 per cent and 5 per cent respectively. Consider that for a second – one-third of Scottish roads are damaged to the point that they need be to repaired, a full 30 per cent more than the roads south of the Border.

Our trunk roads don’t fare much better – a recent Audit Scotland report found that 13 per cent of trunk roads in the country were in what they described as an ‘unacceptable condition’.

Let’s put that in perspective. An independent public body has deemed more than one-tenth of our road network to be unfit for purpose.

This is despite us being one of the largest economies in the world and receiving higher than average spend per head through the Barnett Formula. It’s quite an achievement on the part of the SNP.

Is it any wonder that Scots are increasingly frustrated with the state of things?

We have found ourselves in the situation that, for motorists and cyclists alike, driving is becoming increasingly dangerous.

Not because of the weather, not because Scotland has a problem with speeding, but because the Scottish Government has ignored road maintenance for the decade it has been in power and now the cracks are well and truly starting to show.

There are 154,000 potholes in Scotland. Stacked on top of each other, they have a combined depth of 6,354km – that’s 1.2 times the depth of the Mediterranean Sea, four miles, or the same height as 4,234 cars stacked on top of each other.

This didn’t happen overnight. It’s a direct result of the SNP’s decision to cut road maintenance funding by a fifth over the past seven years – a cut of £137million since 2010.

Scotland now has more potholes than any single English region, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Our nearest rival, South West England, trails us by 16,000 potholes.

To give some perspective, Scotland has more potholes than Wales, Northern Ireland, the East Midlands and the South East of England combined.

We account for 16 per cent of all potholes across the entire United Kingdom.

Compensation claims are up 130 per cent in the past four years; looking over ten years, the figure skyrockets to £2million.

The situation simply isn’t tenable. Local authorities are stuck in an impossible cycle of not having enough money to fix the roads and then having to shell out what little budget they have to compensate motorists for pothole damage.

Indeed, the latest figures show that council funding has been slashed each year since 2013, despite the increasing budget of the SNP. The dreadful state of the roads is absolutely down to the lack of SNP investment.

The Scottish Conservatives understand the importance of having fit-for-purpose, highquality roads so that Scotland can go about its daily life. We understand that driving is a necessity for many people and businesses and that it is becoming increasingly dangerous with the growing number of potholes, flooding and cracks on our roads.

But this is rarely discussed in Holyrood. To an outside observer it would appear as if the only issue Scotland cares about is her independence.

But it’s potholes, not the constitution, that people want to talk about.

It might seem bizarre to the SNP that Scots are more concerned about the state of their roads than whether it is Westminster or Holyrood who are going to decide on food labelling standards, but it is precisely the lack of attention being afforded to everyday issues that has led to our roads being the state that they are in.

This is why we recently announced that a Ruth Davidson-led Scottish Conservative Government would commit £100million over the course of the next parliament to bring our roads back into an acceptable state.

We are clear that fixing our roads will be an absolute priority for a Scottish Conservative transport minister – and we would make a start on the first day in office.

Instead of spending five years debating constitutional matters we would spend our time in office addressing issues that matter to Scots across the country.

But the election isn’t for another three years; Scots won’t wait another 1,000-plus days until action is taken. They shouldn’t have to.

This is why I have launched the Save Our Roads campaign.

Support

Throughout the summer I’ll be travelling to towns and cities across the country to harness support and force the Scottish Government into committing the funds now.

I would urge readers to support the campaign and send pictures of the worst examples of potholes in your local area. I’ll make sure they get the attention of the Scottish Government.

We are potentially facing a decade of work to undo the damage of neglect.

The Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland estimates that it will cost at least £1.6billion to remove all significant road defects. Unless action is taken now, we could be faced with broken roads until at least 2030.

Instead of re-starting the debate on independence, Nicola Sturgeon should focus on an issue that matters to everybody, ensuring that our roads are fit for purpose, not just for safety reasons, but to improve the Scottish economy as well.

But the SNP won’t take notice unless we make our voices heard and make clear that enough is enough.

So send in your pictures and make so much noise the SNP has no choice but to fix these wretched potholes.

Scotland has had enough of complacency and the issue being swept under the rug. It’s time to restart the debate on potholes and start tackling the problem before it gets worse.