'Positive' news as Fife Council spend extra £3.5m on roads

Council leader David Ross said pouring in an extra £3.5 million had helped them improve nearly 40,000 square metres of carriageways.

And he told councillors that the build-up of potholes and cracks in the roads from last winter had now been dealt with.

At the full council meeting Cllr Ross reported: "The current position is positive, with the majority of the safety defects being picked up since the beginning of this financial year and completed within timescales, alongside the backlog carried over from last year.

READ MORE: 'High level talks' to get Rosyth Euro ferry sailing again 

"Operational teams have reduced the number of outstanding defects significantly with only nine annual repairs currently beyond target.

Fife Council leader David Ross said there's good news for motorists. (Image: Fife Council)

"The small number of outstanding priority three repairs are currently being addressed through a velocity patching programme before the end of October."

He said the roads network in Fife had been "fully inspected" and continued: "Additional resources have been allocated to tackle the defects and deal with the backlog accumulated through winter last year.

"Over 10,000 safety issues were picked up by the inspection teams, leading to the repair and improvement of nearly 40,000 square metres of carriageway surface across Fife.

"The majority of this work is carried out by in-house resources, allowing swift completion of immediate safety hazards and increased efficiency relating to co-ordination and execution of larger programmed repairs."

The Labour administration pushed through plans to spend more on the roads, with an extra £3.5m approved in the budget in February, after admitting they were in a poor state.

It also transpired that it can cost more than £200 to fix a single pothole.

Cllr Ross 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."

As well as extra cash, the council said they were trialling the use of "artificial intelligence" to improve their pothole fixing regime.