SCOTLAND’s worst area for potholes has been revealed as the country faces an almost £1.7bn bill for road repairs.
Figures obtained from local authorities through a Freedom of Information request highlights the scale of our “pothole-ridden roads” – with opposition parties claiming the Scottish Government have “let down communities”.
The data suggests it would take around £1.68bn of taxpayer cash to improve the roads, as the BBC reports.
The worst recorded area was Dumfries and Galloway Council, with a repair bill backlog of just over £217m.
Highland Council meanwhile had a backlog of more than £194m, while Argyll and Bute Council’s bill amounted to around £112m.
Scotland’s two biggest cities, Edinburgh and Glasgow, had repair backlogs worth over £77m and £96m respectively.
Six local authorities did not reveal the extent of the backlog, including East Lothian, Renfrewshire, and Aberdeen City.
Neil Bibby, Scottish Labour's transport spokesman, said the "astonishing figures lay bare the dire state of disrepair Scotland's roads are in after years of neglect".
He said the Scottish government had "cut funding to the bone, leaving roads to crumble and taxpayers to pick up the bill".
"Our pothole-ridden roads are a daily reminder of how badly the SNP have let down communities all around us.
"Now the Greens and the SNP have teamed up to hit councils with another year of brutal cuts things are only set to get worse.
"The SNP must stop burying their heads in the sand about this and show some leadership dealing with the mess they created."
A Scottish government spokesman said that "despite continued economic uncertainty facing us all due to the pandemic, we are treating councils fairly and providing a real terms increase of 6.3% to local authority budgets for the coming year - despite cuts to Scotland's overall budget by the UK government.
"The budget provides local government revenue funding amounting to almost £12.7bn - a cash increase of almost £1bn and a real terms increase of £681.8m. In addition, councils will receive a fair share of a further £93.9m which is currently undistributed," the spokesman said.
He told the BBC that maintenance of the local road network was the responsibility of local authorities and it was their responsibility to manage and allocate financial resources on the basis of local priorities.
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