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.”

Bridge deck replacement works have commenced on the B741 New Cumnock to Dalmellington Road at Knockburnie Bridge. These works are now running concurrently with similar works that commenced last week on the B7046 near Skares at Burnton Bridge and are part of the Ayrshire Roads Alliance bridge upgrade programme which aims to repair and strengthen/replace bridges or sections of bridges that have failed their inspection assessments.

The proposed works at Knockburnie primarily entail:

cutting out a section of the existing reinforced concrete bridge deck,

casting in new reinforced concrete bearing plinths,

lifting in a pre-made precast reinforced concrete section,

strengthening of the rest of the structure’s masonry arch section and resurfacing the road section.

The nature of these works are such that a full road closure is the only traffic management option through which we can ensure the safety of the travelling public and contractor’s personnel.

There are other proposed works to be undertaken but those mentioned above are the ones that will require a full road closure. In planning for these works, we have taken measures to try and minimise inconvenience to the travelling public.

The decision to precast the replacement slab is one such measure as we would normally opt to cast the slab insitu, an exercise that would have added about 2 additional weeks to the programmed works. We are also in continued talks with the contractor to see if there are any other critical path tasks that can be fast tracked.

The proposed diversion for both sites is as follows:

B741, Knockburn Bridge, New Cumnock

Alternative route: via B741 to Dallmellington, A713 to Polnessan and B730 to Coalhall, A70 to Cumnock and A76 to New Cummnock and vice versa.

B7046, Burnton Bridge, Ochiltree

Alternative Route: via B741 to Dalmellington, A713 to Polnessan and B730 to Coalhall, A70 to Cumnock and A76 to New Cumnock and vice versa

Whereas the works are programmed to take about 5 weeks we shall endeavour to open the affected roads as soon as it is safe and possible to do so. The works are however significantly weather dependant and might be subject to delays out with our control.

Delays are to be expected and the Ayrshire Roads Alliance apologises for any inconvenience caused during these essential bridge works.

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.

** Update February 2018** Due to the recent adverse weather conditions we’ve extended the resurfacing works on the A714.

The road will be closed Monday to Friday 09:30 to 12:00hrs and 13:00 to 15.30hrs, we now have an anticipated completion date of 9th February 2018.

Delays are to be expected and the Ayrshire Roads Alliance apologises for any inconvenience caused during these essential road works.

The Ayrshire Roads Alliance, as part of its on going programme to improve the condition of the road network, will be carrying out carriageway resurfacing works on the A714 Girvan to Barrhill route.

The works, which will start on Monday 15 January 2017, will take place over a three week period and will be carried out on two sections of the A714

This project, which is weather dependent, will involve replacement of the road surfaces, re-setting ironwork and renewing the associated road markings and road studs.

To ensure the safety of roads operatives and the travelling public the resurfacing will be carried out in phases therefore the diversions and Traffic Management will change during the construction period.

From Monday 29th January 2017 the contract moves to phase 2 works with a new traffic management system from that date.

Delays are to be expected and the Ayrshire Roads Alliance apologises for any inconvenience caused during these essential road works.

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.”