A recurring issue flagged up by Chamber members this year has been the state of Glasgow’s roads – an issue also well documented in the Evening Times.

The harsh weather experienced during two successive winters has led to a massive rise in the number of potholes appearing across the city, coupled with general deterioration of the roads network.

This is an issue which Glasgow Chamber of Commerce raised with Glasgow City Council’s Land & Environmental Services team and we welcomed its announcement earlier this year that funding to address these problems has been increased for the year ahead. An additional £8M capital funding investment has been added to the current £4M of revenue funding providing the council with a budget of £12M for repair work which is now underway.

The first tranche of roads to be resurfaced have already been prepared, taken from the council’s list of schemes awaiting funding. The programme will concentrate on the early permanent repair of potholes, with a target to repair 10,000 within 12 months. This programme will be supplemented by a programme of larger patching – for example, at junctions where potholes are too extensive for a simple patch repair.

Stuart Patrick, Glasgow Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive, said: “This is a positive step by Glasgow City Council which we warmly welcome and is very much needed. The condition of Glasgow’s roads and the growing number of potholes appearing since the winter months was an issue raised by many members which we were only too happy to approach the council to discuss. This is a good example of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce acting in the best interests of the city’s business community – we actively encourage such dialogue between member businesses and ourselves.”
 
Glasgow City Council has outlined what it hopes to achieve from the initial investment:

• 10,000 potholes permanently repaired
• 90 major junctions resurfaced
• 300 residential roads resurfaced
• 20 -25% of City Centre roads resurfaced
• 300 sunken manholes repaired