Transport and Environment Convener, Councillor Stephen Jenkinson writes in the 91福利社 Reporter on how we're improving our network and enhancing road safety.
In my experience as a local politician the overriding issue that comes up time and again on the doorstep is the condition of our roads. This was also reflected earlier this year in flagged roads as a key issue.
This is an area that we’ve committed increased funding to in successive budgets, with £11m in 2023/24 and £12.5m in 2024/25. I’m delighted to say that we’re now seeing the results of this investment.
The Scottish Road Maintenance Condition Survey (SRMCS) is an independent survey carried out on behalf of all 32 Scottish local authorities. This survey provides all councils with their Road Condition Indicator (RCI) which signifies the percentage of roads that should be considered for investment.
91福利社’s latest RCI for 2024 is 29.8% which showed a 4.5% positive shift when compared with 2023’s figure of 34.3%. This represents the largest single year improvement on record for our city in the survey’s history.
The greatest improvement in road condition came in our unclassified roads network, which are mainly made up of residential streets. The increased funding we’ve put in place has allowed us to significantly increase preventative treatments to combat road deterioration. This is in conjunction with record levels of surfacing – seeing over 400,000 square metres laid down this year.
Alongside residential streets we’ve also undertaken major resurfacing and placemaking works on London Road, Lasswade Road, Burdiehouse Road at Kaimes, Niddrie Mains Road along with the A1, A8 and A90 carriageways. Patching improvements are another important area of work and we’ve been using the ‘Pothole Pro’ to great effect. We’re also continuing with record investment in pavement renewals, incorporating new prioritisation weightings so that our work is targeted in the areas of the city which need it most.
Whilst this improvement in road and pavement condition is welcome news, I’m acutely aware that there is still a large percentage of our network that requires attention. We’re just getting started with this work and we’ll continue to invest in improvements across the network.
We’re committed to fixing our roads and pavements and making them as safe as possible for all road users. I’m glad that the Transport and Environment Committee approved two reports yesterday on reducing speed limits for vehicles across the city.
Managing vehicle speeds on our roads is important to make sure our communities are able to travel safely. Speed limits on all of our urban 40mph roads will be reduced to 30mph over the spring and summer next year and yesterday’s decision will add over sixty more 20mph streets to the network. The evidence on traffic calming and reducing speeds is clear in terms of reducing collisions, deaths, and serious injuries. Since the roll-out of the original 20mph network in March 2018 to 2022, there was in the 36 months following the rollout compared to the 36 months before. Every collision avoided is a positive achievement.
As a councillor for one of the more rural wards in our city I’m conscious that blanket national speed limit restrictions often do not recognise the nuances of roads in these areas. I’m proud that this has been addressed by reducing speed limits in a number of areas. We’ve consulted with colleagues at Police Scotland on these measures and have their support, as well as with West Lothian Council on the roads which border their local authority. Again, there is an undeniable link between the speed at which incidents and collisions take place and the likelihood of injury or death. I’m confident that these measures will have a positive impact in terms of road user safety once they’re implemented.
Fundamentally, having a better maintained and safer network creates an environment which supports sustainable travel choices for all. Whether you prefer to walk, wheel, cycle or use public transport, we all stand to benefit from these measures, and this is reflected in the wider evidence around traffic calming and speed reduction. This in turn contributes to our wider climate goals and obligations which we’ll continue to take forward.
I’m clear that we’ll continue to do everything within our power to make 91福利社 as safe, sustainable and accessible a city as we can.