Health bosses rage over roads
Published 3 Feb 2012 09:30
FURIOUS bosses at a Johnstone health centre used by thousands of patients have slammed the shocking state of main roads leading to the practice.
Over 15,000 patients from Johnstone and the surrounding villages regularly use the Linden Medical Centre - which houses three GP practices and a nursery - but managers say a pothole "minefield" on Floors Street and South William Street is putting safety at
risk.
Worse still, the "disgraceful" roads are also used regularly by ambulances - sometimes in emergency situations - with drivers and health workers regularly complaining to the centre about problems with the streets' surface.
Over 2,000 patients have signed a petition calling on the council to take action, but despite several attempts to patch the potholes, the tarmac continues to crumble.
Manager Lorraine Campbell has constantly complained to council roads bosses for two years - first flagging up issues in April 2010 - but believes the problems have been ongoing for almost twice that time.
And after years of pothole pains, she believes a full resurfacing is the only suitable remedy.
As reported in the Gazette, Renfrewshire Council has announced over £5.2million is set to be spent on repairing its roads network - with around 40 per cent in need of attention.
And a spokesman said South William Street and Floors Street would be on the priority list for in the next year after "permanent" patching failed to fix problems.
He added: "We are aware of issues with the road surface at these two locations, which is why both have been included in our proposed resurfacing programme for the 2012-13 financial year.
"Both roads had been identified for permanent patching repair, but due to road deterioration over the last year, more extensive resurfacing is required.
"In the meantime, we will continue to make temporary repairs to these roads to keep them safe.
"Renfrewshire Council is committed to improving the area's roads and this is shown by the fact we doubled spending on road repairs and resurfacing to £5.2 million in 2011.
"For 2012-13, this was increased to £5.6m - the council's biggest-ever single-year investment on roads."
This article appeared in The Gazette 03 Feb 12
Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our News archives.
