East Renfrewshire Council has approved a roads maintenance programme that will utilise an additional investment of £3.5 million to improve the condition of residential roads and pavements over the next financial year.

The 2025/26 programme will allocate the extra funding to resurface 45 roads and 15 pavements throughout the council area. This investment builds on previous commitments, with the council having allocated an additional £15 million in 2019/20 for road infrastructure enhancements over five years, followed by a further £17.5 million for another five years.

The £3.5 million programme will cover projects across all five council ward areas, with improvements scheduled to commence next month. In the first six years of the ongoing programme, a total of 223 roads and 65 pavements have already benefited from investment. The projects planned for the upcoming year will bring the total number of resurfaced roads to 268 and pavements to 80.

The prioritisation of resurfacing projects is based on factors such as the structural condition of the road or pavement, its usage, maintenance costs over the previous three years, the number of complaints received, and geographical spread. This additional funding will allow for full resurfacing improvements, rather than standard safety defect repairs, with the majority of the £3.5 million directed towards C class and unclassified roads, which constitute over 80% of the network.

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Roads and pavements earmarked for resurfacing in the coming year include Lomond Court in Barrhead, Glen Tarbert Drive in Neilston, Dalmeny Avenue in Giffnock, Woodyett Road in Busby, Stamperland Avenue in Clarkston, Hill Drive in Eaglesham, and Wylie Avenue in Newton Mearns.

Councillor Danny Devlin, Convener for Environment and Housing, expressed his satisfaction with the programme's impact: "Investment in our road network is a top priority for the Council so it's been great to see the difference that this programme has made to resident's streets over the past six years. We realise the importance of quality roads and pavements to our residents, commuters, and visitors, and this vital work will help to continue to improve the standard across the whole area. It's fantastic that 288 projects have been completed since this programme began and I'm looking forward to seeing these works get underway in the year ahead and take our total to almost 350."

The Scottish Roads Maintenance Condition Survey (SRMCS) reported a 3.7% improvement in East Renfrewshire's overall Road Condition Indicator (RCI) in 2024 compared to the previous year.

In addition to the resurfacing works, the council committed an extra £3.7 million in 2023 for street lighting infrastructure upgrades over five years. This involves replacing potentially dangerous transmission columns with new ones featuring safer underground supply cables. To date, 306 new lighting columns have been installed, along with 11,000 metres of new underground supply cable.

A further £0.6 million was allocated for converting street lighting to LEDs in 2023. As a result, 99.8% of lighting columns have now been fitted with LEDs, with full completion expected over the summer.

General capital funding for roads resurfacing, approved by councillors in February, will also be used on all classes of roads in East Renfrewshire, complementing the additional £3.5 million investment.