Ahead of council elections, hopeful candidates come across all manner of issues when knocking on the doors of potential voters — and one of the biggest is the state of local roads.
Although many will cast their vote depending on national problems that are completely outwith the remit of a local authority, for a lot of people the decision of who to vote for simply comes down to finding out who can best make their journey to work as safe as possible.
And across the Highlands, particularly in the more rural locations, potholes and other road defects are of great concern to many communities.
How big is the pothole challenge in the Highlands?
Highland Council’s roads team need to care for more than 4,000 miles of road network.
In 2020, it announced its biggest ever single investment in roads, with an extra £20 million of capital and an additional £1.3 million of annual revenue for roads maintenance.
The local authority is also seeking the use of new technology in the fight to keep roads safe for all users, such as the JCB PotholePro machine which, it is claimed, can fix a pothole in just eight minutes.
But no matter a council’s efforts, inevitably many communities will feel underserved when it comes to roads maintenance.
Which is why ahead of May’s council election, we’re asking you to tell us where you think the worst places in the Highlands are for potholes.
Tell us where you think the worst potholes are in the Highlands
You can tell us about particularly problematic streets, villages, back roads, towns, or suburbs.
Anywhere you think poses a particular danger to tyres, drivers and cyclists.
Enter your comments in the form below, and if you can, please also send us a photograph.
Earlier this month we highlighted complaints about potholes in Fordoun, Aberdeenshire, and after we raised the community’s concerns, Aberdeenshire council confirmed it would be scheduling road repairs for the village within weeks.
You may also like:
- New machine makes a pitch to tackle pothole problem in the Highlands
- Tell us: Where are the worst places for potholes in the north-east?
- Report a pothole to Highland Council here.
