Priorities for maintenance of Sutherland roads agreed

Today (Wednesday 23 May) members of The Highland Council’s Sutherland County Committee agreed a Road Structural Maintenance Programme for 2018/19 which prioritises the safety of the travelling public and sustainability of the local road network.

The schemes included have been selected on the basis of need follow safety and service inspections, input from Ward Members and data from the Scottish Road Maintenance Condition Survey.

The revenue budget for road maintenance activities in Sutherland for 2018/19 is £2.2M of which £1.0M is allocated for winter maintenance with a further £1.0M as  a capital budget for the same period.

The prioritised schemes include:

• Pothole repairs across the county;
• Over 50 surfacing projects including the A837 at Lyne Straight by Ledmore and a section of the Linside – Invernauld route at Rosehall;
• Over 26 surface dressing projects on A, B, C and U classified roads across the area including the A836 from Struie Junction to Easter Fearn and the C1134 at Balnakeil

After the meeting Chair of the Committee, Councillor Linda Munro took the opportunity to thank Council staff for all their hard work over the winter months. She said: “Our crews across Sutherland worked really hard keeping our road network open and safe so I would like to thank them all for their incredible efforts under particularly challenging conditions.

“Storm Caroline hit us early in December and then the rest of winter was a combination of heavy falls of snow, prolonged periods of icy conditions, rising temperatures followed by heavy rainfall and then sudden drops in temperatures and further snowfall.

“This freeze/thaw cycle has had a serious effect on the deterioration of our roads and there continues to be a huge demand on our limited resources. As a committee we realise the vital role local roads play to our communities, especially our rural communities, which is why I am pleased that the decision to prioritise the maintenance work made today means we now have a clear plan taking us forward so work can start right away.”

“I would like to thank the local members for their input in helping officers draw up the priority list and assure people that we will be closely monitoring how work progresses. I’d also like to thank community groups and the public for reporting faults to us and remind folk that in Sutherland the council is trialling new technology to make reporting of issues much easier and will make the planning of repair works much more efficient.”

Area Roads Operation Manager, Graham Mackenzie explains: “The main principle behind the pilot is to directly connect customers with our staff carrying out the work, locally. Once reported through our online form at  www.highland.gov.uk/roadfaults the pothole request is sent directly to the Sutherland mobile teams. 

“There’s a clever algorithm in play (TotalMobile) that receives requests in real time and carries out planning activity automatically and distributes to the teams’ diaries. It sorts the jobs by date logged and area and sifts through requests to provide the most effective routes. Staff are then directed to the pothole using standard smartphones recording their visit while carrying out the work.”

Motorists in Sutherland are encouraged to report potholes using the new online service at www.highland.gov.uk/roadfaults or by phoning the Council’s Service Centre on 01349 886601.

Councillor Munro added “This is a very welcome new initiative and I look forward to hearing the results of the pilot as I know other areas of the Highlands are interested in seeing how it improves the service we can provide.”

ENDS