THE maintenance programme for Aberdeenshire Council’s roads is in the spotlight this month, with a report being presented to each area committee in turn – Kincardine and Mearns tomorrow – and it makes for sad reading.
The numbers appear vast. Some £23 million has been allocated to road maintenance for 2026-27. This is over £4 million more than the previous year and means a bit more can be done. But it isn’t enough to allow the team behind our roads to do the work as they would wish.
In his report to the committee Alan Wood, director of Environment and Infrastructure Services reveals the frustration caused by the lack of one resource – money.
The ‘managed decline’ of our roads
He states: The current level of funding for roads maintenance remains well below steady state levels and we continue to witness the managed decline of the road network. Whilst funding will allow the resumption of planned preventative maintenance (suspended last year), the percentage of the network receiving a new or enhanced road surface is still low.
”One consequence of continued constrained preventative maintenance is that the need for reactive maintenance to address road safety defects will again increase. This balance between reactive maintenance and preventative maintenance, that sees us focusing on the former, goes against the accepted asset management principle that “prevention is better than cure”.”
Full report online – see where money needs to be spent
Do not underestimate the size of the problem.
Appendix A to the report gives an update on items of major maintenance earmarked for 2025-26 capital works budget – some 1539 stretches had ‘no action taken’ . A further 196 locations also had their surface treatment put on hold.
Appendix G gives this year’s hit list.
Stonehaven features in the top ten with Kirkton Road coming in at number eight – and is destined for resurfacing works to the tune of £12,921.
The full report is available online. It covers all aspects of Infrastructure Service’s responsibilities including bridges, flood prevention and harbours.
The Kincardine and Mearns Area Committee meet tomorrow in Aberdeenshire Council’s Viewmount office at 9.30am. The meeting is open to the public.