Glasgow continues pothole blitz with separate pavements budget

Glasgow steps up its pothole blitz to also include footpath resurfacing as part of an extra £13 million repair works investment.

Glasgow City Council leader Frank McAveety today (9 March 2017) revealed for the second year in a row, the council has pumped more cash into roads and pavement improvements.

This year the council will spend £8 million to target 12,000 potholes and a further £5 million concentrating on pavement resurfacing. This takes the total additional spend over two years by the council to £29 million for early interventions work designed to prevent roads and paths deterioration.

This latest cash boost will help resurface more than 81km of streets and 80km of pavements - while carrying out a city wide programme of permanent patch repairs. In total Glasgow City Council has spent £97.5m million over five years.

Cllr McAveety said: "This is good news for the people of Glasgow who deserve decent walking, cycling and driving surfaces. It's a substantial amount of money linked to a package of improvements works.

"The cash will allow us to reach beyond the city centre into our communities and neighbourhoods to target improvements to residential streets and paths. We also hope that it will encourage more active travel by our city's citizens.

"But this is also a practical programme to spend additional cash today which will lead to even bigger dividends later. Already our roads investment programme has led to a massive reduction in complaints about potholes and accident claims against the council. This is a win-win situation for all Glaswegians when council budgets are already under huge strain."

The council is usually allocated a small amount of government revenue funding to maintain roads, pavements and lighting across the city.

However, over recent years, city leaders have used millions in capital investment to bolster the repair programme - and have committed £13 million to tackle defects in the current financial year for roads and footways.

Engineers are also studying safety reports, public complaints and previous compensation claims, along with street-level reports from bus and taxi drivers, as they target areas where spending will have the maximum impact.

The impact so far is considerable:

• Significant reduction in the number of potholes; 10,745 public reports during 2012 compared to 3,149 during 2016;
• A 40% reduction in the number of public liability claims;

The outcome is a safer network for Glasgow's vulnerable people, whilst supporting the promotion of active travel and contributing towards the city's economy by improving the environment for business and tourism.

Last year, Audit Scotland published a major report on the condition of Scotland's roads, showed Glasgow delivered one of the highest level of spending for every kilometre of road at around £15,000 - more than five times the figure spent in some areas.

Audit Scotland ranked Glasgow among a minority of Scottish councils judged to be spending enough to maintain or improve the condition of their roads - and in the top 10 for the percentage of its road network rated as being in an acceptable condition.

Nonetheless, the national report made the point that Glasgow's roads still require further investment and this new money is, in part, a response to that.

Investment Programme

£97.5m invested to repair and improve the condition of Glasgow's road and footway infrastructure over the last five years

Carriageways

· £77m invested to repair and improve the carriageway network;

· A total of 577km (359 miles) of carriageway resurfaced. This equates to resurfacing a road from Glasgow City Centre to the English Channel;

· Over 700km (435 miles) of the city's roads re-lined;

· Over 250,000 gullies cleaned over the last five years;

· During the Commonwealth Games, 73km of roads were resurfaced, 40km of footway improvements delivered, ensuring all travel routes and major event routes were fit for purpose.

Footways

· Over £12m invested to repair and improve footways citywide;

· 191km (118 miles) of footways resurfaced.  This equates to the distance between Glasgow city centre and Inverness;

· 5km of city centre prestige footways improved/upgraded.

Photo caption

Councillor Frank McAveety, Leader of Glasgow City Council, meeting on the Clyde Arc bridge over the River Clyde with Glasgow City Council's roads and footways staff who will plan and supervise the new roads and footpath investment programme.
Left to right Thomas Kerr, Roads Inspector; Gordon Gould, Assistant Works Supervisor - Roads & Footways; Karen McQuade, Area Engineer; Norrie Campbell, Roads & Lighting Manager, Councillor Frank McAveety, Leader of Glasgow City Council; and Anthony Morris, 2nd year Road worker Modern Apprentice.