I’m shocked by the state of roads in Edinburgh, Glasgow and on the M8 – Alastair Dalton

Potholes, erased markings and unlit signs were unwelcome encounters on my night drive last week

I don’t often drive between Edinburgh and Glasgow, but a trip one night last week alerted me to the shocking state of the road network that will be all too familiar to regular motorists.

The sheer scale of deterioration, from carriageway surfaces to badly-eroded road markings and sub-standard signs, was remarkable.

This was a feature both on roads maintained by the two city councils and the M8 between them, which private firms maintain on behalf of the Scottish Government’s Transport Scotland agency.

A pothole along the centre of the A8 in Alexandra Parade in Glasgow on Tuesday. (Photo by John Devlin/The Scotsman)

The difference between city streets and the motorway is that travelling at high speeds at night – let alone in strong winds, rain or snow – drivers simply should not have to have their eyes peeled for potentially-damaging potholes in addition to everything else requiring their concentration.

Added to that, I spotted some signs on overhead gantries partially or unlit, and electronic variable message signs only partly visible. It felt like everything was starting to fall apart.

But even at slower speeds, driving from central Edinburgh to reach the M8, I found it disconcerting having to focus on the road surface in front of me and dodge about to avoid potholes. Having to do that on that a regular basis as a commuter would do my head in.

It also got me thinking about the state of maintenance compared to other forms of travel such as rail and air. My impression is that the rail network is maintained to a far higher standard, whereas any defect in an airport runway is rapidly patched.

Pothole on Howard Street near St Enoch Square in Glasgow city centre on Tuesday. (Photo by John Devlin/The Scotsman)

We seem to have arrived at a position where the state of Scotland’s roads is “good enough” – far from perfect, and tolerable for some but unacceptable to others.

Scottish Conservatives Central Scotland MSP Stephen Kerr told the Scottish Parliament last week: “Is it not time for the Scottish Government to be honest and to tell the people of Scotland that it does not really care one jot about roads and that it thinks that car use is somehow malevolent?”

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Taking soundings on social media, I’ve found few drivers happy with the situation. Calum Miller said of the M8: “Atrocious condition. Poor surface, lighting and road markings. Signs in most cases can’t be read at night.”

Pothole on Duke Street in east end of Glasgow on Tuesday. (Photo by John Devlin/The Scotsman)

Another motorist, Alistair Wilson described roads between Edinburgh and Glasgow as “in general very poor”. He said: “They are shocking. Poor lighting, markings getting faded – a sad state of affairs.”

Stuart McLellan, of SLM Cycle Transport in Uddingston, said: “In my experience, Edinburgh used to be worse than Glasgow but I would say that they are now both poor with lots of potholes, sunken manholes and many instances where the top layer appears to be crumbling.”

Roads experts echoed such concerns. Neil Greig, the Scotland-based adviser to motoring group IAM RoadSmart, told me: “It does feel universally bad at the moment. The odd really bad bump at 70mph on a premium route is totally unexpected and unacceptable.”

However, he said increased use of glow-in-the-dark LED road studs on slip roads was effective.

A roads industry source said the deterioration was "a symptom of our reduced budget this year, but things look to be getting better again next year [2024-25], based on the Scottish Budget in December. Much of the [motorway] network is reaching 50-60 years old and requires investment to ensure it remains fit for purpose.”

Budget documents show critical safety, maintenance and infrastructure spending on the trunk road network, such as motorways, fell from £435 million to £373m in 2023-24, but will increase to £525m in 2024-25 from April.

Transport Scotland told me this would focus on “the highest-priority safety critical maintenance, ensuring resilience to severe weather events and to deliver on our commitment to maintain a safe and reliable trunk road network”.

Amey, which maintains trunk roads in the south west of Scotland including the western end of the M8, told me its patrols “constantly” monitored the network and made critical repairs “in a timely manner in line with our contractual commitments”. A spokesperson said: “At this time of year, we are maintaining the network to the highest standards, despite the increasing impact of unprecedented severe weather.” Defects can be reported at swtrunkroads.scot/report-a-problem/

BEAR Scotland, which covers the rest of the M8 and trunk roads across south east Scotland, said routine inspections were made twice a week.

Its spokesperson said: “Unfortunately, cold, wet weather has an impact on road surfaces at this time of year. As such, there are inevitably some isolated areas of deterioration. Any areas which are a safety concern for road users are raised and repaired through our inspection and defect repair procedures.”

Defects can be reported via Traffic Scotland’s 24-hour customer care line on 0800 028 1414 or at bearscot.com/report-a-defect.

City of Edinburgh Council’s transport convener Scott Arthur said it was spending an extra £11m on maintenance in 2023-24, nearly doubling the amount of road covered and almost six times the amount of pavements compared to the pre-Covid average. He said whole streets would be done, as people wanted, rather than piecemeal improvements.

Mr Arthur said: ““We won’t get footpaths and roads back to where we want them to be in one year, but this investment will help halt the decline.” Faults can be reported at: https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/roadproblem

A Glasgow City Council spokesperson said it had doubled road maintenance spending to £12m after a sharp increase in reported potholes a year ago following the lowest temperatures since 2010 and prolonged rainfall.

A new strategy "prioritises projects to make the most efficient use of the funding available, as well as exploring new methods and treatments.” Road defects can be reported at: https://glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=22815.

“Our responsibility is to ensure we have in place an appropriate system of road safety inspections and repairs that tackles the most dangerous faults as a matter of priority.”

“The roads network is inspected on an on-going basis but we urge people to report any road faults to us directly so they can be properly assessed and included in an appropriate repair programme.”