£2 million pledged to improve South Ayrshire roads
South Ayrshire Council have agreed to spend £2 million on road improvements
At the last South Ayrshire Council Leadership Panel, councillors agreed to spend over £2 million on road improvements and a further £1 million to replace street lighting. This follows the Council’s commitment to invest £10 million to improve roads and infrastructure over 5 years. A total of 50 projects will be undertaken by the Ayrshire Roads Alliance this year and next to improve our roads. The majority of this work will be resurfacing but there will also be maintenance work such as pothole repairs, improving drainage, gully cleaning and maintaining verges. Projects are prioritised according to the condition of the road, safety issues, level of traffic and feedback from users. Key projects include spending £178,000 to resurface the B734 Girvan/Old Dailly by Camregan and surface dressing on the B741 Straiton to Rowantree which will cost £119,070. The percentage of our road network which needs maintenance continues to fall according to the Scottish Road Maintenance Condition Survey which looks at all A, B and C roads in each Council area every two years. In 2012 – 2014 the percentage of our roads needing repair was 46.8% this has now improved to 44.1%. There is an ongoing target to improve the condition of our roads by 1% each year. Under the improvement plan standard street lighting lanterns will be replaced with environmentally friendlier LED units which reduce energy costs and helps bring down carbon emissions. This work will be carried out in Troon, Prestwick and Dundonald. Councillor John McDowall, Sustainability and Environment Portfolio Holder for South Ayrshire Council said: “Our roads network is vital to the people that live, work and visit South Ayrshire, so all of our roads need to be in the best condition possible. I am pleased that improvements are being implemented but more needs to be done to identify and keep on top of maintenance issues which can reduce the need for full-scale resurfacing.” Stewart Turner, Head of Roads – Ayrshire Roads Alliance said: “Working closely with South Ayrshire Council, the Ayrshire Roads Alliance will deliver an extensive programme of over £2m of road improvements throughout South Ayrshire. The Alliance will be undertaking work on roads which have been assessed as priority for either repair or improvement. This work is essential to improve the road network for the benefit of commuters, business users and visitors to the area.”