Members approve 2024/25 Area Roads Capital Programme for Black Isle and Easter Ross

Members of the Black Isle and Easter Ross Area Committee today (22 January 2024) approved the Area Roads Capital Programme for 2024/25. 

The local allocations capital budget for 2024/25 remains to be established which will be calculated from the approved capital budget allocation being adjusted for any acceleration or slippage in the previous financial year for each area allocation, and analysis of the road condition survey results. 

Consequently the 2024/25 area capital roads programme is based on the previous year’s budget, which is unlikely to vary significantly from the established budget that will not be determined until early Summer. 

The Ross & Cromarty budget has not been disaggregated to Easter Ross; Black Isle, Dingwall and Seaforth Area; and Wester Ross Strathpeffer and Lochalsh Area. 

As Black Isle and Easter Ross has a total of 44% of the road length in the former Ross and Cromarty area, this capital programme is based on 44% of the 2023/24 Ross and Cromarty Area Capital budget, less project design unit costs. Adjusting for accelerated spend, this amounts to £871,073. 

The approved 2023/24 Roads Budget local allocations for the former Ross and Cromarty Area can be found in this report under Appendix 1. The 2024/25 programme is scheduled in Appendix 2 of the same report. 

Chair of the Black Isle and Easter Ross Area Committee, Cllr Lyndsey Johnston, said: "The Committee is delighted that these priority routes will be progressed, and I would like to commend the hard work of our Area Roads team on maintaining our roads network during not only these challenging financial times, but also in light of the severe weather which has such a negative impact on our roads." 

The priority routes approved by Members today include: 

• U1991 – surface dressing at the bottom section of the Glenglass Road, Evanton 

• C1012 – surface dressing at various sites on Saltburn Road, Invergordon 

• C1004 – surface dressing from Fendom Road, Tain to Fendom Junction 

• C1012 – overlay at two sections at the bottom of Scotsburn Road, Tain 

• U2524 – overlay on the Carse of Raddery Road, Fortrose, Phase 1 

• U2585 – patching work on the Tore to Belmaduthy Road 

• U2596 & U2599 – surface dresssing at Drumsmittal 

Should extra funding be awarded there are a number of other roads in this year’s plan including: 

• C1023 – patching on the Dingwall to Evanton back road 

• U1953 – patching at Kendal Crescent, Alness 

• U2013 – regulate and overlay at Foulis Station Road, Ardullie 

There are a number of other roads earmarked on the aspirational list of roads requiring attention which can also be found in the report linked above under Appendix 2.