THE number of roadworks in Scotland's two biggest cities have soared more than 25% in eight months.
By Martin Williams
THE number of roadworks in Scotland's two biggest cities have soared more than 25% in eight months.
Fed-up drivers are facing a summer of discontent on Scotland's roads, with more than 4300 sets of roadworks under way.
The figures from Scotland's roadworks commissioner equate to one set of works for every eight miles of public road.
In the Glasgow City Council area there were more than 320 sets of roadworks and in Edinburgh there were nearly 500 - an increase of more than a quarter.
Much of the works are the responsibility of local authorities or utility companies, including Scottish Gas, BT and ScottishPower.
Organisations representing motorists have expressed concern that some of the work being done would have been unnecessary if the roads had been properly maintained.
It is feared part of the problem is caused by the increasing trend towards temporary road fault fixes, such as patching roads, rather than a more permanent solution such as road surfacing.
The latest figures come weeks after the Evening Times' Ripped Off Glasgow campaign highlighted that taxpayers in the city are meeting the cost of poor workmanship of utilities and contractors, leading to calls for a bond system.
The AA, RAC and MSPs of all parties have supported our call, which would force firms such as Scottish Water and BT to lodge funds before digging up city roads.
If repairs are not completed to a satisfactory standard the money would be used to pay to fix the long-term damage excavating roads for cabling and piping work causes.
Jo Abbott, communications manager with the RAC, said the problem with patching was it degraded quickly.
""Managing the road surface and keeping it in good repair is extremely expensive and it depends on how the budgets are being spent in the various local authorities who have this responsibility.
"The only way to properly repair a road is to do it for the full width of the road and for a suitable distance for the length of the road as well," she said.
"We would urge all local authorities to see the importance of maintaining the road infrastructure in good condition."
"Patching holes really is a very, very temporary measure and of course that's why people see lots and lots of little roadworks."
It is estimated Scotland faces a £2billion bill to repair potholes on its crumbling roads.
More than 30% of the nation's roads are in need of attention under councils' red, amber, green warning system.
Nigel Humphreys, of the Association of British Drivers, said better preventative maintenance of the nation's roads would cut the amount of roadworks required.
"It is a factor that maintenance has been botched up a bit. The likes of gas pipe projects should be co-ordinated better alongside the council so that when they dig up the roads they resurface and minimise disruption."
He said there were issues for drivers because there were often never any uncongested alternative routes to roads dogged by roadworks.
"Because the road network is inadequate and running to capacity most of the time, the roadworks are a major disruption," he said.
"What you need is a better road network with at least two to three ways of getting from A to B that are uncongested, so that when you close one off it's not the end of the world."
