Call to flag up holes to council
Report problem potholes, says Crieff CC chair Harry
A Crieff community councillor is encouraging locals to use Perth and Kinross Council’s pothole reporting service.
Dodging the hazards on stretches of the Strath’s roads has become commonplace, with the local authority’s potholes’ problem said to have doubled this year due to Covid restrictions preventing emergency roadworks going ahead last summer.
Harry Thomason, chair of Crieff Community Council, has made numerous calls about a collapsed drain that has created a pothole in Broich Road, causing drivers to swerve onto the opposite carriageway.
He said: “There’s been cones put in it to make drivers aware but cars are still going over it and the cone has been smashed.
“BEAR Scotland are busy repairing the ones along the A85 so why can’t PKC get the ones they are responsible for repaired.
“The number is 08002 32323. Phone them up and report any pot holes and then maybe we will get them fixed.”
Since January 1, PKC has identified 1696 potholes on its 1553 miles of road – more than one pothole per mile – but less than a quarter, a total of 329, have been repaired.
A spokesperson for Perth and Kinross Council confirmed there was a backlog for repairs and asked that only potholes that are likely to cause a serious accident be reported at this time.
The spokesperson said: “As the weather starts to improve, we will turn our attention towards repairing potholes in our roads.
“You will start to see more potholes in roads at this time of year due to the weather.
“In technical terms, water gets into cracks in the road, then when it freezes the road expands. So as the weather thaws, the road surface collapses and causes potholes.
“You can imagine that in Scotland, having potholes is a common occurrence.
There are two ways of fixing potholes – the first is to make them safe and the second is to permanently fix them. Unfortunately, our weather over the past few weeks will mean that more potholes have appeared and fixes tend to be temporary, before even more potholes arrive.
“During the past few months, all of our pothole repairers have been driving gritters and keeping main roads clear of snow and ice.
“This means we now have a backlog on repairs.
“Please help us by only reporting potholes that are likely to cause a serious accident.”
The spokesperson also asked for patience as the repair process can take up to 30 days.”
To report a dangerous pothole, go to www. pkc.gov.uk or call the Customer Lighting and Roads Enquiry Centre – known as ‘CLARENCE’ – on 08002 32323.