But the recent severe winter weather has had a devastating impact on roads and the maintenance programme already planned for the network, members of the Marr Area Committee were told this week.

The issue was raised at a meeting at Alford, when members were discussing a quarterly report on transportation and infrastructure performance.

Councillor Karen Clark asked what the roads service was doing to tackle the problems, which were the subject of ongoing e-mails and phone calls to councillors.

She was told by senior roads service officer Malcolm Christie that the service was currently assessing the cost of fixing damaged roads but that whatever action was taken would have an impact on the budget for the maintenance programme already agreed.

He said that they were faced with a "horrendous problem" that would be difficult to manage and have an impact on the roads maintenance budget but admitted that it would need to be addressed.

Cllr Clark told the Piper: "I have had a lot of correspondence from people asking what the shire is doing about the poor state of the roads which have taken a real battering with the adverse winter weather. I asked what our strategy was on this and whether the need to tackle these urgent problems would have an impact on our future performance.
I was reassured that the roads department are assessing the current situation and action will be taken but it was likely that planned maintenance would have to be put back to deal with the more urgent problems."

"In a recent Audit Scotland report it was stated that the road network in Aberdeenshire is among the best maintained in Scotland but it is certainly a concern at the moment for many residents with so much damage on our roads caused by the prolonged winter.

I would encourage drivers to report specific potholes and also where they see flooding due to blocked road gullies on the special council telephone number 08456 0812 05."

Councillor Peter Argyle said that the service had done "a terrific job" in terms of coping with winter roads maintenance but that the problems of potholes and damaged roads would still have to be tackled.

Cracks on bridge
Meanwhile the Spittal Burn bridge between Banchory and Fettercairn has been shut after cracks appeared along the walls.

A spokesman for Aberdeenshire Council said the B974 will be closed for three weeks to allow for a damage assessment of the bridge following the recent severe weather.

"Cracks in the bridge wall were detected following an inspection and initial repairs will be made to stabilise the side walls. Once the conditions allow for a full assessment of the damage it may be necessary to extend the road closure period to allow repairs to be completed."

"This information will be updated on the road closures section of our website when appropriate."