Dumfries and Galloway MP Russell Brown has called for a pothole plagued road to be repaired by Scottish Government agencies before the stretch of the current A75 at Dunragit transfers to council control.
The local MP has written to Scotland Transerv who manages and maintains the trunk road network on behalf of the Scottish Government in south west Scotland expressing concerns at the state of the current A75 through the village of Dunragit and calling for urgent repairs.
Once the new A75 Dunragit by pass is fully open, the old road will transfer to council ownership and will be downgraded from a trunk road. Russell Brown is putting pressure on Transerv to bring the road up to a proper standard before the road is transferred, fearing that if that doesn’t happen the council will be left with the repairs to carry out.
Russell Brown believes the problems at Dunragit are another example of the growing state of disrepair on the A75. He recently expressed concern about the condition of the A75 on the Dumfries by pass between the Glasgow Road and Garroch Loaning roundabouts which has now been resurfaced, as well the stretch of the road near Gatehouse of Fleet.
Russell Brown said, “The current A75 through Dunraigit is plagued with potholes and I’ve received a number of complaints from local residents. Once the new by-pass is fully opened, the old road will no longer be the A75 trunk road and instead it will transfer to the council. My fear is that the Scottish Government will transfer the road in a poor condition, passing the buck to the council to pick up the bill for fixing the potholes and the footways. I have therefore written to Scotland Transerv to urge them to carry out the necessary repairs and bring the road up to a proper standard before it is passed to the council. A lot of people don’t realise that once a new road is built to replace part of a trunk road, the old road often transfers to the local council and they have to pay to maintain it with far fewer resources at their disposal than the Scottish Government.”
“Sadly, the state of the road at Dunragit is a symptom of wider problems with the A75. I expressed concerns over the condition of the A75 on the Dumfries by-pass between the Glasgow Road and Garroch Loaning roundabouts which was eventually resurfaced but the same problems also exist on other stretches such as near Gatehouse of Fleet. The Scottish Government are investing hundreds of millions to upgrade and dual trunk roads in other parts of Scotland, but our region seems to have been forgotten when it comes to some of the most basic maintenance”.
The £17 million three mile Dunragit by pass on the A75 between Stranraer and Dumfries has partly opened. For the safety of road workers, a speed limit of 40mph is in place throughout the on-going works. Traffic management measures are expected to be removed this month allowing overtaking opportunities in both directions, with shared facilities for cyclists and pedestrians in places. The project is scheduled for completion in summer 2014. Thereafter the existing A75 through Dunragit will be de-trunked and control passed to Dumfries and Galloway Council.
