MacRae launches bid to tackle trunk road neglect

10.52.52am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 24th Sep 2009

Highland Lib Dem Scottish Parliament candidate Alan MacRae has today launched a new website which aims to get to the bottom of widespread dissatisfaction with North West trunk road operator Transerv Scotland .

Last winter saw major problems as the key economic lifeline road routes serving much of the North and West Highlands were allowed to deteriorate into an unsafe state, prompting widespread public anger.

The trunk road company had previously been branded ‘poor’ and ‘unacceptable’ by the group tasked with auditing its performance and the performance of the 3 other trunk road contractors in Scotland . At the start of this month, the most recent report claimed there had been an improvement – but still pointed out that the company lags behind on a number of key criteria.

At present, there is no ‘live’ monitoring of the firm’s performance, and that is the gap which Mr MacRae hopes to fill through his new site, www.RepairOurRoads.org.uk. The site allows road users to plot defects on a detailed map of the area, notifying Scotland Transerv, but also allowing their response to be monitored and published.

Commenting, Alan MacRae said:

“Nobody disputes that in its 3 years of managing the North West trunk road network, Scotland Transerv’s performance has left a lot to be desired.

“There is a real concern that talk of improvement is at odds with the public’s experience – especially in Skye, Lochalsh and Lochaber. The A82 and the A87 can be dangerous roads at the best of times, but the state of the road surface on some of the most difficult sections is now adding substantially to the hazard.

“These roads are critical to the economy of the whole West Highlands – in many cases they are the sole practical route in and out of the area. It is unacceptable that their state of repair should lag so far behind roads further south which do not have the same lifeline role.

“Last year there were demands for the Transport Minister to intervene, but he declined to do so. This year, I want to make it plain to Transerv, and to the Minister that the arrangements are under scrutiny as never before.”

Ross, Skye & Inverness West MSP John Farquhar Munro is backing the campaign. He said:

“This is an excellent initiative. Until now, people in the Highlands have had to wait for an annual report in the autumn to tell them what they have known for a long time – that repairs of dangerous road faults are being left longer each winter, and adding seriously to the hazards on our key routes.

“We need to get to the root of the problem, before the dismal performance of recent years is accepted as the norm. We won’t accept a two tier trunk road maintenance system, where the Highlands & Islands get a second rate service.

“I hope people will use this website to report problems, or get directly in touch with Alan MacRae or myself, so we can put the onus on Transerv to take action, or explain clearly why it will not.”

Notes:

More details of the website, and Mr MacRae’s campaign are available at www.RepairOurRoads.org.uk