Ayrshire Roads Alliance sets out investment in our roads
East Ayrshire Council’s Cabinet has agreed the Ayrshire Roads Alliance’s programme of investment works that will allow improvements to be carried out to carriageways, footways and street lighting, in addition to bridge strengthening and investment in transportation, traffic and road safety.
For 2026/27 the overall roads capital budget will be £5.752 million, and a number of carriageway and footway schemes have been identified and prioritised for action. The investment will see:
- £2.305m being allocated for carriageway structural maintenance
- £0.150m for footway structural maintenance
- £0.215m for street lighting improvement schemes
- £0.330m for traffic and transportation
- £0.050m for active travel schemes
£2.702m has been allocated for bridge and culvert strengthening, and the remainder of an extra £2m of funding that was allocated in 2025/26 will be used to deal with an increase in road slips that has been occurring across East Ayrshire over the past few years. The exact reason for this is unknown but it is likely to be a combination of climate change and more frequent or heavier traffic on public roads.
As a result of targeted expenditure, figures show a continued improvement since 2016 in the overall condition of East Ayrshire’s road network. The overall challenge in funding for local authorities is well documented, including by Audit Scotland, and to maintain this progress would take additional investment in the roads network and this will be challenging. The Council will manage this risk by implementing a robust carriageway inspection regime; ensuring that road defects are repaired in line with a risk-based approach; and implementing a programme of structural patching in addition to the carriageway resurfacing where budgets allow.
Traffic, Transportation and Road Safety improvement programmes will continue to be delivered in partnership with Transport Scotland and Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT), with a focus on improving road safety, enhancing the transport network and promoting accessible travel choices. This will include making improvements to the bus infrastructure; progressing with work on the B778 between Stewarton and Fenwick; delivering a range of road safety schemes within the vicinity of various schools; and continuing with projects that will improve the wider safe walking routes network.
ends