GLASGOW’S POTHOLE PROBLEM

WINTER WEATHER AND BAD REPAIRS LEAD TO RISING COSTS FOR CITY

• For the second year running, Glasgow City Council is shelling out over £15 million in extra funding to fix over 10,000 new potholes which have opened up over the winter.

• However, these pothole are not just caused by ice and bad weather.

• A recent investigation has found that over 50% of repairs carried out on Glasgow’s roads are not to a satisfactory standard, exacerbating the problem.

• SOURCE: EVENING TIMES: http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/editor-s-picks/glasgow-potholes-are-worst-in-britain-1.1042148

• The Scottish Government has given councils an estimated extra £15million to help repair the crumbling roads

• HOWEVER, Councils here estimate that road maintenance will cost £120million more than budgeted for…

• According to website FixMyStreet.com, Glasgow’s streets are the worst in the UK…

FIRPARK STREET, EAST END

• What’s the big deal about potholes?

• Damage caused to cars including tyre blowouts, bent alloys and ruptured chassis can be expensive and inconvenient to fix

• More importantly…

• There are more dangerous hazards awaiting cyclists and anyone who happens to be walking on a footpath when a car mounts it in an effort to avoid a pothole

• There is a serious safety risk involved for motorists as a result of potholes

• The results of a car hitting a large pothole at speed in England.

• 4 people died in this incident, as reported by the Daily Mirror

FIRPARK STREET, EAST END

FIRPARK STREET, EAST END

WISHART ST, EAST END

• On the 8th of February, Glasgow City Council issued a statement.

• It was in response to a debate on STV’s ‘The Hour’, where Glaswegians bemoaned the state of their city’s road network.

• Cab drivers and cyclists were amongst those who voiced concerns about the rising number of serious potholes in the city…

• A cab driver at Queen Street:" You can’t go 10 feet in this city without hitting a pothole…it’s like a farmers field around the Forge shopping centre”

• A cyclist on the Pollockshaws Road: “They are everywhere in the city…there are some big ones that really need to be dealt with…you can fly over the handlebars”

• GLASGOW CITY COUNCIL STATEMENT:

• “Glasgow’s roads are opened 20,000 times a year by utilities. Poor quality reinstatements by 3rd parties are a major starting point for many potholes. They create problems which are then exacerbated by freezing temperatures and heavy traffic…There is little we can do to avoid the damage extreme weather has caused in recent years”

• The statement continued:

• “Last winter 10,000 potholes were reported in just a few weeks…The council found £8million additional funds. This year the potential damage is even greater. Despite facing unprecedented budget cuts, we have spent £4million clearing snow and ice”.

DENNISTOUN, EAST END

DUKE STREET, EAST END

• Are our weather conditions so severe that roads in the city should be in such a terrible state?

• What is being done to prevent the shoddy workmanship of 3rd party contractors which help to make our city centre roads look like this…

CITY CENTRE

CITY CENTRE

• Last year, the Evening Times’ ‘Ripped Off Glasgow’ campaign revealed the extent of shoddy repair jobs by utility firms.

• It found official council inspection data showed that as many as 9,000 repairs a year by utility firms could be sub-standard.

• Scotland’s roadworks commissioner John Gooday has ordered the major utility firms to clean up their act. If standards are not met, he said, fines of up to £50,000 will be issued.

• So, who is actually responsible for repairing the damage?

• Well, under the Roads (Scotland) Act of 1984, local authorities are responsible for managing and maintaining the public roads in their specific area

DENNISTOUN, EAST END

• The road authorities have a duty to take REASONABLE CARE to maintain safe conditions.

• They must see that roads are free from any defect which may cause a REASONABLY FORESEEABLE risk of damage or injury.

• On this basis, a local authority is not automatically liable if a vehicle is damaged or a pedestrian injured due to a pothole.

DUKE STREET, EAST END

• Making a claim is not straightforward.

• The average cost of a claim is around £240.

• Neil Greig, director of policy and research at the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said: “Claiming against roads authorities is difficult – its such a grey area, particularly in Scotland.”

• “Long-term damage to cars is hard to fix and may not fully materialise for some time. But the process of claiming against councils should be a lot easier.”

HIGH STREET, CITY CENTRE

HIGH STREET, CITY CENTRE

• In the pursuit of a claim, the claimant must establish that it is reasonable and practical to expect their local authority to have inspected and repaired a pothole before an accident occurred.

• This is a complicated task and as long as an authority can demonstrate that their system is reasonable, they will not be found liable.

GLASGOW CROSS

GLASSFORD STREET

• Budget cuts, shoddy repair jobs and an inability to deal with the problem has led to potholes in Glasgow becoming a bigger issue year after year.

• With the roads now in a worse state than ever after our harsh winter, accidents and costs are on the rise

ARGYLE STREET

• With a successful claim should you be in an accident far from guaranteed, what should we, as residents of this city, expect from our City Council?

• Why are our roads being fixed to sub-standard levels?

• And why is so much of our budget being wasted on massive projects like The Commonwealth Games when basic things such as our roads are in such a sorry state?

CITY CENTRE

CITY CENTRE

• For further information on claiming: www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/YourCouncil/

• PICTURES: PJ O REILLY

• ADDITIONAL SOURCES:http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/editor-s-picks/glasgow-potholes-are-worst-in-britain-1.1042148

http://www.fixmystreet.com/reports/Glasgow

http://www.potholes.co.uk/advices/view/971/Potholes_Glasgow/

http://entertainment.stv.tv/tv/226754-glasgow-city-council-what-were-doing-about-potholes/

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/editor-s-picks/glasgow-set-to-pay-out-a-hole-lot-of-money-1.1078593

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/editor-s-picks/a-hole-lot-of-grief-1.1047821