BUDGET cuts have led to concerns about road conditions in West Fife.

Members of the South and West Fife area committee will receive an update on the challenges ahead at their meeting on Wednesday.

A total of £1,056,500 has been allocated to the area for carriageway schemes in 2018/19 but the projected allocation for 2019/20 has been slashed £716,000 – a cut of a third of a million pounds.

Footway scheme spending will fall from £340,000 to £189,000 while the road safety and traffic management budget is set to be reduced from £108,000 to £96,000.

Nigel Hampton, lead consultant of Roads Programme Management, said there was a risk that reducing capital budgets would mean they will be unable to deliver all carriageway, footway, road safety and traffic management priorities.

“The above reduction in capital resources for carriageways and footways maintenance in 2019/20 is concerning for future road condition,” he said.

“However, the council is reviewing the capital plan 2019-2021 and this could lead to additional investment from 2019/20. Should this transpire, the allocations to the area committees would be increased accordingly to the revised budget.”

Among the carriageway schemes worth £863,300 which councillors are set to approve for 2019/2020, a total of £221,000 will be used to improve the B9037 east section at Low Valleyfield while £149,000 has been earmarked for repairs on Station Road in Oakley at the junction of the A907 to the Old Railway Bridge.

In Rosyth, Albert Street, Kings Crescent and Kings Place will see work valued at £124,000 carried out while £88,000 will be spent on Ferryhills Road in North Queensferry. 

In Inverkeithing, £100,000 has been allocated for the footway on Spencerfield link while £71,000 will be used for footway work in Aberlour Street, Rosyth.

Street lighting is also to be improved in Rosyth with £300,000 allocated as category one work and a further £342,500 of work planned as category two projects.

Maintenance work has also been scheduled for 2019/20, including masonry and steelwork repairs to the listed Newmills Bridge at an estimated cost of £40,000.
A further £25,000 is set to be spent to provide a new footbridge behind Cairneyhill Scout Hall to replace the existing structure.