Councillor reveals solution to fixing potholes in Glasgow

The Glasgow Times Investigates series has been looking at potholes across the city.

We have highlighted the number of claims made to the council and the number paid out and rejected.

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We also drew attention to some roads in the city where potholes are causing motorists to swerve to avoid damage.

Ruairi Kelly, SNP councillor and convenor for neighbourhood services, and assets, said there are a number of factors that have led to people noticing more and bigger potholes, some are long-standing and some are new.

The legacy of the covid shutdown, the war in Ukraine and high inflation are all still having an impact.

Also, historic issues like how the city received funding for the road network puts it at a disadvantage.

Kelly said: “We lost a full year of resurfacing work during the covid lockdown, that is still being dealt with.

“The war in Ukraine has increased the price of bitumen which increases the cost of doing repairs.”

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Inflation has also increased and added to the overall bill for materials.

Kelly added: “Inflation has led to between 20% and 30% less repairs.”

The council increased the budget by £6m last year and £5m this year to try to cope but the councillor said that only allows us to stay stable.

“Education and social work have been protected in recent budgets, so roads, bins and parks have taken the majority of cuts in recent years.

“Homelessness costs are rising too.

“Few people would say we should reduce something like food assistance in order to fill in some more potholes.”

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As well as the level of funding, how it is allocated puts the city at a disadvantage, he said.

Kelly said: “The Clyde Tunnel is entirely maintained by the city council and costs £820,000 more than the Scottish Government gives us for it.

“That is £820,000 not being spent on other roads. It is approximately 10% of the total revenue budget for carriageways.

“It is a lot of money going on a small stretch of road.”

The issue is that the tunnel is a vital road artery for the rest of the west of Scotland.

Most  journeys through the tunnel either start or end outside Glasgow and those using it don’t pay council tax in the city.

For example thousands of people a year could drive from Bearsden in East Dunbartonshire to Braehead in Renfrewshire through the tunnel but are not contributing to its upkeep.

Kelly added: “The road was not taken on by Transport Scotland despite it being a west of Scotland road.”

The funding of roads maintenance also sees Glasgow lose out, he said.

He said: “We have a higher volume of usage because people from other areas come into the city.

“The budget is based on the length of road not the volume of traffic.

“Hope Street could have the same level of traffic in a week that a road in Dumfries has in a year.

“I would like to see a funding mechanism that accounts for volume as well as length.”

He accepted that not enough is being done to solve the problem but as much work as possible was being carried out within the strict financial constraints.

Kelly said: “We have increased investment in city infrastructure and we are trying to do the best we can but we are not doing the level of resurfacing we want to be able to.”

“Patching doesn’t solve the underlying issue. It is a juggling act, and we have to squeeze every penny out.”

He explained why drivers may see multiple repairs on a single pothole.

The councillor, said: “If a pothole is an immediate danger it has to be filled within 24 hours.

“But a full closure for resurfacing requires three months notice to the Roads Commissioner.

“In that time it could be patched three times because of the volume of traffic.”

Ultimately, he said, it comes down to cash.

He said: “£10m this year doesn’t get you want £10m got you last year.

“There is not the possibility of increasing the roads budget because of the huge need in other areas of the council.

“What we need is more money.

“We are doing everything we can with the funding available to use.”