Report reveals council's uphill struggle to control potholes

Last year's severe winter is being blamed for a near trebling of the number of potholes on Dundee's roads in two years.

Tayside Contracts staff performing a temporary pothole repair.

By Grant Smith
Published in the Courier : 22.09.11
Published online : 22.09.11 @ 12.45pm

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A report to be presented to councillors next week says that in 2010/11 more than 22,700 potholes were filled in, compared to fewer than 8300 in 2008/09.

Officials are to review procedures to increase the proportion of potholes permanently fixed first time, rather than being temporarily patched and then repaired properly at a later date.

Dundee, like other Scottish local authorities, has to monitor the condition of its roads. The most recent data covering 2009 to this year shows 28% of the sample needed immediate treatment or further investigation, up almost 5% on the figure recorded in 2007 to 2009.

Again, the severity of recent winters is reckoned to have taken its toll on carriageways. However, Dundee remains a top performer and its proportion of problem roads is 10% lower than the national average.

The report reckons that it would cost more than £22 million to fix the maintenance backlog, far more than the council has available to spend.

Officials have also looked at how the council responded to the challenges of last winter — the worst for decades — which saw streets and pavements covered in snow for several weeks.

The budget for the coming winter has been set at £1.5 million, a rise of more than £300,000.

The council is responsible for 550km of roads and 900km of pavements and these are classed as either priority or secondary routes.

Priority roads include main commuter routes and bus routes, roads serving hospitals and emergency services bases, and roads serving shopping centres, schools and industrial estates.

Arrangements have been made to have eight tractors and drivers available on standby to tackle secondary routes during ''red alert'' snow conditions.

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