Ayrshire Roads Alliance immediately halts all planned resurfacing after blowing budget

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Road resurfacing work across East and South Ayrshire has been brought to a halt as spiralling costs have seen the entire budget blown in just over six months.But roads chiefs have insisted that they will ensure no roads are left in a dangerous condition after councillors raised concerns.Just under a half of East Ayrshire's 2022/23 road resurfacing programme has been completed, while a third of South Ayrshire Council's two-year resurfacing programme for 2022/24 has been completed.The annual budget for East Ayrshire's road resurfacing was £5.125m, while South Ayrshire's was £3.5m.

Ayrshire Roads Alliance maintains roads for both councils.ARA head Kevin Braidwood reported to the Ayrshire Shared Services Committee: "Due to the increase in road materials, fuel and the withdrawal of fuel relief for red diesel, a review of spend has been carried out."Mr Braidwood said that there were two options.

Either return to work in the new year, using money 'stolen' from the 2023/24 budget, or suspend the work until the start of the new financial year.The financial situation had not been helped by the failure to secure Timber Transport fund money.Girvan Independent councillor Alec Clark raised his concerns that this could be more than an inconvenience.He said: "The problem with rescheduling resurfacing in some areas is that it is a danger to traffic and human life."Mr Braidwood insisted: "We will continue to monitor all of these roads and carry out safety repairs where necessary."Cllr Clark responded: "If we had a crystal ball to see what inflation would be that would be fine."The Ayrshire Live app is available to download now.Get all the local news in your area – plus features, football news and the latest on the coronavirus crisis – at