Two Inverness roads described as an “archaeological dig” will finally be repaired, city councillors have agreed.
Highland Council has proposed a £950,000 budget to repair and future-proof a number of roads in the region’s largest city.
But the local authority’s own roads team has acknowledged that the figure is well below what is needed to get things up to an acceptable standard.
A total of 11 roads have been earmarked for resurfacing. Several others will undergo surface dressing, a preventative treatment used on roads in a good condition to protect them and prolong their life.
At this week’s Inverness city committee, the reality of the situation was laid bare.
Road operations manager John Taylor said: “All of us would like to see more done, especially given the damage done by the cold spells before and after Christmas.
“With the very significant and widespread deterioration that is occurring, it is absolutely essential that the current budget is strategically targeted at the very worst areas.”
Councillors clash over ‘unfair’ budget
The discussion prompted a pretty fiery response from Inverness councillors.
No one is disputing that finances are tight.
But the selection process for which roads were denoted the highest priority prompted some grumbles from councillors adamant that more should have been done in their ward.
Particularly, as nearly half of the money will be spent in a single ward – Aird and Loch Ness.
Inverness Ness-side councillor Alasdair Christie said: “It is not fair. I can’t defend this when I see that nearly 50% of the money is going in one place.”
Inverness provost Glynis Sinclair pointed to a recently rejected levelling up fund bid to spend £43m repairing the roads on the NC500.
She said: “Potholes and the issues with our roads didn’t happen overnight.
“It’s the result of a lack of investment for many, many years. It’s disappointing that the recent application for the levelling up fund for the NC500 was rejected by Westminster.
“That would have freed up money for the rest of the Highlands.”
‘There’s nobody more depressed about this than us’
Among the gloom about doing more with less was one lighter moment provided by Inverness Millburn councillor David Gregg.
He said he was delighted to see two notorious roads in his ward finally earmarked for some repairs.
Councillor Gregg said: “On behalf of the residents of Wade Road and Henderson Drive, I’d like to thank the roads team for including them in this.
“It’s not so much potholes there, it’s more of an archaeological dig.
“You can see layers and layers of the road surface there, some of which pre-date me.”
The introduction of five new pothole repair machines across the Highlands has raised some hopes.
But the loss of two drivers hasn’t helped the council’s roads department.
Fellow road operations manager Steven Grant summed up: “There’s nobody more depressed, when we look at the number of roads we can do, about this situation than engineers.
“We’re out there trying to fix the roads, trying to give the best value to our communities.
“But we can only do that within the budgets we have. We’re looking at a 15 to 20 year under-funding of roads.”
Councillors agreed the £950,000 programme of work, which means it will start later this year.
But the issue is not going anywhere anytime soon.
Are you interested in all the latest news and updates from Inverness? If so, why not join our new Facebook group.
Conversation