Pothole work 'cuts off village'

COUNCIL bosses have been accused of leaving residents stranded as work gets under way to repair a road labelled "the dark side of the moon" because it has so many potholes.

A half-mile stretch of the B800 into Kirkliston is set to close during the day for up to six weeks to allow for urgent maintenance to dozens of potholes after the recent cold snap led to an increase in the number of defects.

The road, which had already been earmarked for repairs prior to the winter weather, is now set to be prioritised, with work carried out in "non-peak" hours between 9am and 5pm.

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But residents have complained the improvements will leave them cut off, with bus company First meeting the city council yesterday over concerns about how the road closure will affect its services.

Ken Greig, a local resident who runs a PR consultancy in the village, said the council was engaged in a "Mexican stand-off" with the bus company about how and when to carry out the repairs.

He said: "The road is so bad it's like the dark side of the moon, but this is the only bus route into the village, so a lot of people who rely on buses will be left stranded.

"There are real concerns about how people are going to get back and forth to work."

A spokeswoman for First said the closure of the road would result in "severe service diversions" and a "significant impact" on passengers.

She added: "It is not just ourselves who have raised concerns, but also the local community council and other local authorities.

"If the full road is closed, we will have to put on diverted services. We got less than two weeks' notice from the original date and we raised that as a concern."

The city council said the road surface had deteriorated badly following the cold weather, but added emergency repairs had already been carried out to any potential dangerous potholes.

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A council spokesman said: "Having experienced the coldest snap in some 30 years, it is little surprise that our roads have suffered as a consequence – and the B800 leading to Kirkliston is no exception.

"Indeed, despite ongoing emergency 'patching' repairs, the condition of the road has deteriorated to the extent that we must carry out this work as soon as possible. Our priority must be, and is, the safety of all road users.

"Unfortunately, due to the nature of the road, the works require a temporary closure but we will work closely with local transport companies and other partners to lessen the impact on local residents as far as we possibly can and have a series of meetings set up to discuss practical solutions to this."

Despite spending a record 20 million on road repairs in the last year, Edinburgh still faces an 86m backlog of repairs following decades of under-investment.

Is this the most potholed road in the Lothians – or do you know one worse? Call Christopher Marshall on 0131-620 8732.

• www.edinburgh.gov.uk

• www.firstgroup.com

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