Danger roads on the Isle of Arran

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I would propose North Ayrshire Council as having the most inept Road Department in Western Europe, never mind the UK. I have ridden thousands of miles in Europe and the UK, including the Western Isles, but nothing compares to the roads I have to use every day.
I live on the Isle of Arran, which is in the Clyde, and is the only large island in the UK ruled over by a New Town Council, a Council that came into existence in 1996, and has decimated our roads since then, whilst at the same time getting commendations for their mainland roads.
 We have had petitions, two voluntary community council road surveys, a road protest that closed the roads, articles in the Glasgow Herald and the Daily Record( Scottish Daily Mirror). There are currently 36 motorcycles of 600cc and over on the island, that I know of, 9 Harleys and many smaller bikes and scooters. We have a population of just over 5,000. This increases hugely in the Summer months. The ferry company statistics show 600,000 commuted between January-October 2003.

 I have been campaigning for 6 years over the state of our roads and very little has changed and NAC insist that they do a good job. Have you heard of the Jetpatch machine? NAC have been using one, twice yearly for the past three years. It is supposed to be for potholes and other minor repairs, but our roads people use it for whole carriageway work, without the appropriate attachment, they just hose on a bitumen chip mix, disastrously. The operators are supposed to train with it for months but our men got two days. It is not supposed to be operated in rainy conditions, but ours is anyway. Consequently repairs that should last years, last months and they are unsafe and illegal repairs to boot.
  NAC have made repairs with cold tar and rolled them in with truck wheels. I have pointed out to them that their repairs are illegal and do not conform to the New Roads and Street Works Act, but they tell me that that does not apply to councils. I have this in writing.

The photos are of jet patch repairs on Arran. The 2004 repair was six months old when the picture was taken. The 2005 was one day old. Note how North Ayshire Council kindly leaves the gravel for bikes to hit. A repair like this nearly killed me last week when I was going round a blind left hander. The council hire the jetpatcher for two week sessions and then send a sweeper after they have finished. They say they can’t afford to sweep at the same time. They also have said that they have been commended on the quality of their roads.
The police have also surveyed part of roads and labelled at least four parts on one section a danger to two wheeled vehicles. I have lots of information, going back years.

Steve Garraway

Reader's article

By Steve Garraway