Council invests extra £3.5 million in Fife's roads

This article is more than 1 year old

Ian Balfour from the council's roads service with Cllr Altany Craik and the velocity patcher

Fife Council is investing an additional £3.5 million to help fix Fife's roads and is making good progress in tackling a backlog of repairs.

The additional money will be used to help deal with a backlog of repairs that built up through last winter.  Fife's entire road network was inspected and more than 10,000 issues identified, leading to the repair of nearly 40,000 square meters of roads and pavements across Fife.

Cllr David Ross, Leader of the Administration, said: "The primary goal has been to clear the backlog, whilst at the same time ensuring the budget is spent in the best way targeting the worst affected areas. The cycle of annual inspections is now starting again allowing any defects relating to the maintenance of the network to be picked up, which should reduce the number of customer enquiries."

The majority of repairs picked up since the beginning of this financial year have been completed, alongside the backlog carried over from last year.  Outstanding smaller repairs are currently being fixed using a Velocity Patcher,  with the aim of completing them by the end of October, weather permitting.

The Velocity patcher forces air at high speed into potholes to clear them out, before sealing the area with cold bitumen. Aggregate is coated in bitumen and applied, again at high speed.

Cllr Altany Craik, Roads Spokesperson said: “We maintain over 2,400km of roads in Fife and we’re spending millions each year repairing and improving them.

"Our road network is vital to support economic development, inward investment, tourism, leisure and travel to work. Almost everyone in Fife uses our roads on a daily basis, which is why this type of maintenance work is so essential.

"I saw the patcher in action recently in Glenrothes and it's  a really impressive machine. The repair process is fast and creates for a strong durable repair without causing further damage to the road and reducing the need for closures.  Carbon emissions are lower, too, because the process doesn't use heat.

"The majority of this work is carried out by our own roads teams so is quicker and more efficient than bringing in external contractors."