Fife’s roads are falling into such a poor state it is feared a crisis is approaching where some could have to close.
Just to keep the region’s carriageways in their present condition would cost £13 million and only £10m is available.
A leading engineer in Fife Council described a “state of continual decline”, with roads only getting worse.
Councillor Donald Lothian warned of a scenario where costly repairs could not be afforded and sections of road shut.
He said: “I’m concerned that in a few years’ time roads may have to be closed because we don’t have the money to fix them.”
Roads had simply been patched up for so long that repairing them properly was becoming more and more costly, he said.
“Inadequate maintenance of the road network in north-east Fife over a lengthy period of time will inevitably lead to a point when a particular repair is unaffordable, which will then increase the possibility of sections of road being closed.
“This has been confirmed to me by council officers.
“I do not think that road closures are likely as this would be politically unacceptable, but we should not be naïve in thinking that we are not getting ever nearer to a crisis point.
“We, as a nation, may need to decide very soon whether the split between local road maintenance and national big ticket transport projects, with the current available resources, is correct.”
Kevin Smith, lead professional in the council’s roads network management, said there was a £3m gap between the money needed just to maintain Fife’s roads and the money available.
He said: “We currently need £13m across Fife to keep the road network in its current state without any negative impact.
“The roads are getting worse and we can’t actually keep them in a constant state.
“We are in a state of continual decline with the money we have.”
A year ago it emerged that it would cost over £95m to get Fife’s roads up to first class condition.
More than £1m of investment in roads in north-east Fife area in the coming year was endorsed by the council’s north-east Fife area committee.
It includes more than £500,000 for resurfacing the A912 between Gateside and the Perth and Kinross boundary, which Mr Lothian said was in need of major upgrade.
