It’s all gone to pot
Pothole
DRIVERS continue to despair at the number of potholes on roads as winter fast approaches.
A Transport Scotland survey has revealed that only 40 per cent of Scots are happy with the condition of trunk roads and motorways, showing a gradual decline in satisfaction over the past six years.
Although Scotland’s 2,000 miles of trunk roads are — according to a recent Audit Scotland report — better than council-owned streets, more than a fifth are marked down as in unacceptable condition.
This week’s results revealed that 75 per cent of motorist complaints were about potholes — a concern which Extra readers echoed on Facebook and Twitter.
For many of our respondents, problem areas lie not on trunk roads or motorways, but on council-run streets and residential schemes.
A response from community events feed What’s On East Renfrewshire reads: “All of Stamperland is a total disgrace — our street hasn’t been resurfaced in years. We just keep getting temporary repairs which last a matter of weeks.
“We all know the roads are bad and there has been resurfacing done this year, but only on main roads — estates just get forgotten”.
Twitter follower Cam McVey flagged Netherlee as another problem area.
East Renfrewshire council is carrying out resurfacing works this month (see page 10) and allocated £1.5 million of this year’s budget to road repairs and renewals.
An ERC spokesman responded that £500,000 was allocated to resurfacing priority roads, while the remaining £1,000,000 was to resurface “those roads which have the poorest condition rating but due to their location (i.e. unclassified residential streets) may not feature in the programme”.
Glasgow readers tell a similar story, with @Glasgow_Red adding: “Edgemont St at Bellwood St (Langside) is a disgrace”.
Shawlands resident Julie Robertson has, however, had her complaints acted upon.
She explained: “I use fillthathole.org.uk, and interestingly the potholes get filled — often badly, but they (the council) fill them. It worked for me on Coustonholm Road and Ettrick Place, as well as the main roads”.
Reporting faults online has become increasingly popular, with Glasgow city council launching MyGlasgow this year — a mobile phone app enabling residents to flag problems.
The city council allocated £12 million of its budget this year to fixing crumbling roads blighted by harsh winters in 2009 and 2010.
Despite ongoing concern about potholes, it seems that some are satisfied with Scotland’s roads services.
The Transport Scotland survey shows over 50 per cent of respondents happy with gritting services — up from 39 per cent the previous year, when the country faced heavier snowfall.
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Weather for Glasgow
Thursday 23 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 5 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 22 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 5 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: North east
