Edinburgh’s potholes get extra cash for permanent filling

HALF a million pounds is to spent over the next two months to repair thousands of potholes and pavements which have caused havoc in Edinburgh.

About £2 million has become available by “prudent” management of council resources and will be spent on a range of road and community projects by the end of the financial year next month, the city council has announced.

Instead of numerous temporary repairs, the council has vowed to carry out more expensive permanent repairs on up to 8,000 potholes through its “Right First Time” initiative.

The city’s road network has improved since 2007 when more than half the network needed repairs. Now the proportion is down to a third. However, the past two severe winters have taken their toll, leaving a large number of serious potholes in the city.

Last night Neil Greig, Scotland-based policy and research director of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said that while money to tackle potholes was welcome, “throwing money at the problem at the last minute” was not an ideal strategy.

“We would welcome any money going into the potholes repairs considering the backlog which has built up. But it has become traditional among local authorities to suddenly get a lot of money in the last few weeks. It is not the effective long-term planning we need for dealing with potholes.”

Ian Maxwell of Spokes, the Lothian cycle campaign, agreed that spending on repairs should be better allocated year-round and said particular care should be paid to those affecting cyclists.

“The council needs to make sure the edges of the road are examined and not just the central carriageway.”

Robert Aldridge, environment leader, said: “This administration has turned around the decline in the condition of Edinburgh’s roads. In 2005-6 over half of the city’s roads were in need of repair, that figure is now below one third.

“The additional £500,000 in the current financial year for permanent potholes repairs will be spread fairly across Edinburgh, with an additional ‘Right First Time’ crew in each of the six Neighbourhood Management areas. This will deliver approximately 8,000 additional permanent pothole repairs over the next two months.”

Last month it emerged that councils in Scotland had paid out nearly £2 million to drivers whose vehicles had been damaged by poorly maintained roads over the past five years from 2006-2011.

Edinburgh ranked third with payouts totalling £188,331.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Local authorities are responsible for local roads in Scotland. The recent decision to allocate part of the remaining Barnett consequentials (calculations to give public spending parity in different regions of the UK) for 2011-12 to transport is further evidence of the significant support that we provide for local authorities.”