The £11.6 million programme, which includes carriageway (excluding trunk roads) and footway structural maintenance, street lighting, bridge strengthening, the New Cumnock flood scheme and traffic, transportation and road safety works; is set annually following consultation with elected members, community councils and Community Action Plan Steering groups.

It includes significant maintenance on A, B, C and U class roads. U class roads are urban roads and include residential areas in the main towns and villages of East Ayrshire where maintenance of thousands of metres of road will take place. Footway surfacing will take place in a number of locations including Loch View, Cumnock, Well Road, Auchinleck, Western Road, Kilmarnock and Bowling Green Lane, Galston.

Street lighting improvements will take place in Drongan, Crosshouse, Dalrymple, Kilmarnock and Darvel. 28 bridges and culverts have been identified for works with £3m being invested over the next year on their repair, maintenance or refurbishment.

Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) has also confirmed funding for projects within East Ayrshire for 2021/22. This includes £1.3m for improvements to Kilmarnock bus station, £40,000 to design a cycle route from Crosshouse to Dundonald and £100,000 will be invested in bus infrastructure improvements.

Sustrans will also continue to invest in local projects through the Scotland’s Places for Everyone Fund, which provides grant funding for identification and creation of infrastructure that enables more people to cycle and walk for everyday journeys and facilitates more active routes to school, and Spaces for People that will continue to provide exciting new schemes to encourage safe, active travel. Active travel options will also continue to be promoted and facilitated locally by the Active Travel Hub, Kilmarnock in partnership with Sustrans, the Ayrshire Roads Alliance and the council.

The roads infrastructure is one of the most valuable council assets and is vital to the economic wellbeing and development of East Ayrshire. The council recognises its importance and this programme of works will help to ensure our roads are maintained to as high a standard as possible.