As part of their ongoing programme to improve the condition of the road network, the Ayrshire Roads Alliance will be carrying out essential road resurfacing works on three sections of the A713 carriageway between Dalmellington and Ayr.

This essential work will be carried out in July and August during the school holidays.

To protect the roads operatives and the travelling public, road closures will be in place over the following weekends.

Section 1 A713 Minnivey to Dalmellington including the junctions with Gateside Road and B741 Straiton

Work will start on Monday 2 July and last for two weeks including Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 July and Saturday 14 July and Sunday 15 July.

The road will remain open on weekdays and the traffic will be managed by convoy operations and/or temporary traffic signals, delays are possible. Road closures will be in place over the weekends from 7.30am until 12pm and 1pm until 5pm.

The road will re-open to allow traffic through between 12pm and 1pm.

A signed diversion route will be via B741 to New Cumnock, A76 to Cumnock, A70 to Coylton, B742 to re-join the A713 and vice versa.

The Gateside Road and the B741 Straiton junctions will be closed on the second weekend and no access or egress will be allowed via these junctions during this period. A local diversion will be in place for Gateside Road. Straiton Traffic will divert via B7045 to Kirkmichael, B742 through Dalrymple before re-joining the A713.

Section 2 A713 Boreland between Patna and Hollybush

Work will start on Monday 16 July and last for one week including Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 July.

The road will remain open on weekdays and the traffic will be managed by convoy operations and/or temporary traffic signals, delays are possible.

Road closures will be in place over the weekend from 7.30am until 12pm and 1pm until 5pm. The road will re-open to allow traffic through between 12pm and 1pm.

A signed diversion route will be via B730 to Coalhall, A70 to Coylton, B742 to re-join the A713 and vice versa.

Section 3 A713 Benston between B7034 and B742 Dalrymple junctions

Work will start on Monday 23 July and last for two weeks including Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 July and Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 August.

The road will remain open on weekdays and the traffic will be managed by convoy operations and/or temporary traffic signals, delays are possible. Road closures will be in place over the weekends from approximately 8.00am until 6pm. A signed diversion route will be via B7034 to Dalrymple, B742 to re-join the A713.

The works are weather dependant and may be delayed or postponed at times due to adverse weather, the works will continue the next available day.

Motorists should check the advance signage that will be placed at each location in advance of the works confirming the road closure dates and times.

The Ayrshire Roads Alliance apologises for any inconvenience caused during these essential road works.

Resurfacing works on the B7037 between Sorn and Galston are programmed to begin on Monday 14th May 2018. It is anticipated that the works will take three weeks to complete.

In order to carry out these works safely it will be necessary to close the affected length of road.

The C76 near Meikleyard to South Blairkip Farm will be closed Monday to Friday 07:00hrs to 18:00hrs with the following signed diversion route via:

B7037, A719, A76, B743 and vice versa.

Ayrshire Roads Alliance apologies for any inconvenience caused due to these essential resurfacing works.

Work is now underway on the extensive £6m road resurfacing programme for East Ayrshire.

The Council trebled the budget for road resurfacing back in February after winter damage led to road defects being recorded on an unprecedented scale throughout the area.

The Roads Maintenance Unit Section in the Ayrshire Roads Alliance has designed a road resurfacing programme which will ensure that resurfacing work focuses on the roads most affected by defects, potholes and surface fragmentation.

Teams will be resurfacing substantial stretches of road; moving away from temporary repairs on isolated patches and potholes.

Work started last week on the C10 at Grassyards Road with 3km of road now resurfaced.

This week our team has moved to the B778 at Stewarton. 1.6km of road will be resurfaced from Gainford Bridge to Over Lochridge Farm.

Councillor Douglas Reid, Leader of the Council, and Councillor Jim Roberts, Cabinet Member for Economy and Infrastructure, visited the Alliance team on the B778 to view the resurfacing work.
Councillor Douglas Reid said: “Trebling the road repair fund to £6m, for this year alone, was a major step towards helping tackle issues on our roads.

“The resurfacing programme developed by the Alliance will see 60km of local roads resurfaced from now until the autumn. I am expecting to see a noticeable improvement on the condition of our roads as the resurfacing programme makes it mark.

“We have also changed the way we work to meet the unprecedented level of repairs that have emerged after the winter weather. Instead of temporary repairs on isolated patches and potholes we are carrying out extensive resurfacing works.

“We also have established ‘Find and Fix’ squads who will deal with all categories of road repair in one visit. The foreman of the squad will also inspect and record any visible defects nearby and the team will then make these safe.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank local people and the travelling public in advance for their patience as we progress with the resurfacing programme. There will inevitably be some disruption during these extensive but essential works and the Council apologises for any inconvenience caused.”

The resurfacing programme started on Monday 16 April on the C10 Grassyards Road. From now until the end of May, the team who are currently working on the B778 Stewarton will then move to the C20 Irvine Road, Kilmaurs; the C126 Mountgreenan; the B7037 Galston to Sorn Road and Woodroad Park, Cumnock.

Updates will be provided as the programme continues throughout East Ayrshire.

East Ayrshire councillors will set their annual budget next week, considering a range of proposals, with road repairs and maintenance firmly at the top of the agenda.

The proposed Council budget for 2018/19 would see an extra £4 million of additional funds for road repairs to be undertaken by the Ayrshire Roads Alliance – increasing their 2018/19 figure from £2 million to £6 million.  Councillors will meet to consider this and other proposals on Thursday 22 February.

The huge increase in investment recognises that local road conditions have deteriorated considerably due to sustained severe weather.  The Council acknowledges recent public feedback and believes that a comprehensive repair and maintenance programme is needed to recover the position.

Stewart Turner, Head of Ayrshire Roads Alliance explained: “Potholes and worsening road conditions are a national problem, but we’re taking action to restore local roads to a safe standard.

“To do that, we need to increase the level of investment in our roads, moving away from reactive pothole patching to towards planned work through resurfacing.

“The additional £4 million for our repairs budget is an unprecedented increase – and an incredibly good news story for East Ayrshire.”

Prior to the Council’s budget meeting, repair works on local roads had already begun, with more than 2,700 local road inspections undertaken in January 2018 alone.

That works out at 88 road surface inspections a day – seven days a week, with road defects prioritised on severity and we are currently using around 200 tonnes of “black top” every week.

Mr Turner added: “We’re absolutely committed to fixing these issues and our teams are working hard across East Ayrshire.

“Temporary repairs are just that, essential to maintain safety but not a long term answer. I’m confident this major investment will have a noticeable impact in improving the experiences our residents and road users have had in recent times.

“I’d repeat my thanks to residents who have been most helpful in identifying and reporting damaged areas and I would encourage anyone to report road defects through the dedicated form on the ARA website.”

The winter months are a challenging time for roads authorities across the UK as our roads suffer the effects of snow, ice and heavy rain. And this year is no exception as the number of reported potholes reaches unprecedented levels. (Yes, contrary to recent media reports, we’re not denying this – we also drive these roads.)

Only a few weeks ago, when much of the country was under a blanket of snow and ice, Ayrshire Roads Alliance worked round the clock to keep our main roads clear.

The Alliance runs a 24-hour standby service during the winter months.

A direct consequence of last month’s severe weather has been the significant deterioration of the quality of our road surfaces. As temperatures start to rise the Alliance shifts its attention from winter maintenance to road repairs – ever mindful that repairs cannot be carried out when the road surface temperature is below zero degrees or during periods of snow and ice weather predictions.

However, we remain vigilant as we continue to receive severe weather alerts on a daily basis and these will affect how and where we allocate resources.

Pothole complaints for January 2018 were up by 15% from 2017 and we carried out 2711 safety inspections in January alone.

Complaints received by social media take longer to process as the information is often incomplete. The quickest way to log your complaint is to use the website to report a pothole or contact the out of hours numbers for urgent repairs.

In some cases, where the damage in an area is significant, it may be more appropriate to screed a whole section of road rather than just a single pothole.

Over the past week, we have repaired numerous potholes and lengths of road at various locations throughout the network using approximately 120 tonnes of bituminous material.

Whether gritting roads or repairing potholes, the Alliance must comply with drivers’ hours directives – to protect the workforce and the travelling public. This year, the Alliance secured additional support from contractors to help meet the demand, both for road maintenance and repairs – to ensure the service continued round the clock in times of need.

How do we handle your pothole complaints?

We have highly trained inspectors who respond to the pothole reports made by local residents and they monitor the road network daily.

We operate a four-tier reporting system for potholes which determines how quickly we carry out the repairs. Our inspectors will visit the location and assign the pothole a category – based on the size, depth and location of the pothole.

A category one pothole is considered a threat to life and limb and we will respond within a two-hour timescale. A category two has a five working day response time while category three is 10 working days and category four is 28 working days.

We continually monitor the condition of all potholes, to ensure that they don’t deteriorate further before being repaired. If a pothole deteriorates, it will be re-categorised and escalated for repair.

In the near future changes will be made to the way our inspectors receive pothole reports. The team will be provided with mobile devices and when a report is made on the website the inspectors will receive notifications in real time. This will allow the team to work remotely and spend more time on the road, speeding up the inspection process.

A new average speed camera system will soon be installed on the A713. The system is being introduced in Polnessan, East Ayrshire to improve safety on the route, reduce the number of injury collisions and encourage motorists to drive within the speed limit.

Following a national site selection exercise, an average speed camera system has been agreed as the most effective and appropriate intervention. In the three years 2012-14, there were 8 injury collisions on this stretch of road, including 2 resulting in serious injury or fatality. Speed surveys have also been carried out which indicate speed is a continuing concern with a high proportion of vehicles travelling above the speed limit.

We know from experience on the A77 and the A9 the significant road safety improvements that average speed cameras deliver, and expect similar outcomes for the scheme at Polnessan. After installation is complete in the coming weeks (construction commences on the 13^th of November), a period of testing will be carried out with the system scheduled to be fully operational by the beginning of next year.

Councillor Jim McMahon, East Ayrshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Older People and Community Safety said: “With eight injury collisions in just three years, it was essential that action was taken to improve road safety on this route. A review of the route, including speed surveys, showed that a high number of vehicles were travelling above the speed limit.

“The most appropriate way to tackle speeding motorists is introducing average speed cameras. They are proven to significantly reduce speeding which in turn will make the route much safer.”