More than £1.2 million is to be invested in road maintenance programmes in Caithness.

Members of the Caithness Committee have approved the council's 2018/19 structural maintenance programmes for roads in the area for the coming year. A total of £1.214m has been approved, of which £539,000 is allocated for winter maintenance with a further capital budget of £785,000.

A total of 116 schemes have been prioritised, including;

• 53 overlay projects including the A99 at Keiss Mains and the U3618 Newton Road at Whitebridge

-- Advertisement --

• 12 inlay projects including the A836 Shebster Junction and the B874 Sinclair Street Halkirk Junction

• 37 surface dressing projects including the A836 Canisbay Cemetery to the bridge at Lower Warse and from Warse Farm Road to Upper Gills

• 13 patching projects on A, B, C and U classified roads across the area

Chair of the Caithness Committee, Cllr Matthew Reiss, said: "Given the scale of roads across Caithness and the impact of weather related damage, there continues to be a huge demand on our limited resources.

"There will never be enough money for everything we want to do. However, the committee's decision today means we have a clear plan taking us forward. Every pound we can spend on improving our roads goes back into the Caithness economy and helps to support jobs and growth so Highland Council will continue to look for ways of getting additional investment."

(LM/MH)