Local road repair priorities agreed for Badenoch and Strathspey for this year
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A senior Highland councillor has said an increase in local roads funding will prevent them from deteriorating further but has warned the local authority is still playing catch-up.
Members of Highland Council's Badenoch and Strathspey area committee members have approved the area’s roads programme for 2021/22.
The £1.6m budget has been made up of the revenue budget of £840,565 for labour, plant and materials including salt for roads and a capital budget of £765,310 to undertake surface dressing and surfacing.
Area committee chairman Bill Lobban said: “This year sees a substantial increase in the roads maintenance budget and that will, at least, prevent our roads from deteriorating even further but further substantial investment will be required in the forthcoming years.
“Road maintenance is not just about tar and potholes, it’s also about drainage, white lining and a host of other functions.”
A large portion of this year’s revenue budget is being targeted towards cyclic maintenance.
This will include drainage improvements, footpath maintenance, gully cleansing, temporary patching, renewal of road markings, maintenance of signs, verge maintenance and other routine annual work.
Capital works scheduled for this year include £88,000 of patching at bell-mouths and junctions in various villages in the strath and £80,325 on 5100m of surface dressing on the B9102 Lettoch-Craigvarren-Advice Junction-Tulchan.
South Street in Grantown is also set to see £35,000 investment in structural drainage and £63,000 is planned to be spent on improvements on part of the A939 Dava road.
There are also a number of roads that will see new surface dressing including 1200m on the B970 Culreach (Balliefurth); 500m on the B970 sub-station to Loch Garten road and 600m on the B970 Loch Garten junction to Mains of Garten road.
Overlay works are also planned on section one of the C1137 Glentrium and the U2264 at Balnagowan.
There are also surface dressing works planned for the A938 Balnacruie to Tullochgribban road, the A938 Foregin to Baddengorm road and the Station Road junction in Newtonmore.
