Scotland’s road maintenance budget is going up 21% from £165m in 2016/2017 to more than £199m for 2017/2018.
Transport Scotland is now drawing-up a revised programme of work. All of the major road bridges are expected to benefit, with schemes including the resurfacing and waterproofing on the Kincardine Bridge, the refurbishment of spans on the Cromarty Bridge and the cable inspections on the Forth Road Bridge.
The maintenance funding is in addition to the major improvements that are happening across the network such as the dualling of the A9 and the M8/M73/M74 improvements project. Overall, the Scottish government’s total investment in Scotland’s motorways and trunk roads, including major projects, has risen from £830m in 2016/2017 to £997m for the coming year, an increase of £167m or 20%.
Maintenance schemes expected to be brought forward are expected to include work at the M90 at Kinross as well as the A82 at Altrua and further replacement of central reservation barriers on the M8, M80 and M77.
Finance secretary Derek Mackay: “This is an exciting time for our transport infrastructure with some of our major projects due to come online in the coming months, including the major upgrade of our central motorway network.”
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