Nine Ferry Footpaths to be Upgraded and Adopted in 2014-15

Pavement upgrading work in progess
 in Campfield Road during 2013

I have just been informed by the City Engineer about the priority list of unadopted footways and list of schemes to be carried out throughout Dundee in the next financial year 2014-15 at an overall cost of £500k.

The following streets in Broughty Ferry will benefit from their footpaths being upgraded and then adopted by the Council during the April 2014 - March 2015 financial year:

• Boyd Place
• Hutton Place
• Kerrington Crescent - north footway
• Margaret Crescent - east footway only
• Oakley Place 
• Ramsay Street
• South Balmossie Street - west footway only
• Stewart Street
• Strathmore Street- east end section near the Campfield Square Shops

While the residents in these streets will no doubt be dleighted when their pavements are finally upgraded and adopted, there are still miles of pavements in Broughty Ferry to be brought up to standard in subsequent years.

Progress with Gray Street Pavements?

After a fortnight of the six week contract to resurface the pavements on Gray Street, the first phase on the east side looks as though it is shaping up. My picture shows the new paving, almost complete, outside the Eduardo Allesandro Studios on Saturday 5 October.
I understand that businesses on that side of the street have experienced a drop in takings and spells of persistent noise from pneumatic drills breaking up the old pavement surfaces.

I hope that when the work is finished, before the Christmas season, the disruption will be seen to be worthwhile with another stretch of upgraded pavements in central Broughty Ferry.

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Phased Pavement Upgrading in Gray Street Gets Underway

Contractors began work this week upgrading the pavements in Gray Street between King Street and Brook Street. The work will be phased over the next six weeks and began on the east side section between King Street and Long Lane.

My photo also shows the replacement street lights that match those in the central part of Brook Street. These are low maintenance lights and the more elaborate posts should help support bunting for the Gala and Christmas decorations.

The work should be complete before the switching on of the Christmas Lights in November.

In the meanwhile, parking spots will be be more limited in the vicinity of the construction work and traffic is restricted to one way south on the section of Gray Street between Brook Street and King Street. Temporary diversions are in place.

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Long Awaited Upgrading of Kerbs and Pavements in Gray Street Starting Monday - 100 yards better but miles to go!

The long awaited next phase of upgrading the cracked and uneven pavements in central Broughty Ferry will begin on Monday 23 September 2013. The kerbs and pavements of both sides of Gray Street between King Street and Brook Street will be replaced this time.

Council Officers advise that, to minimise disruption, the work will proceed on one side of Gray Street at a time. While the work is going on, traffic in that section of Gray Street will be restricted to one way going south (Brook Street to King Street) with no traffic allowed to drive north (King Street to Brook Street). It is proposed to start work on the east footway, with the west footway to follow. 

They also advise that the work is programmed to last six weeks  and the contractor for the works is Tayside Contracts, assisted by Kilmac Construction. Apparently, if the pavement upgrading is incomplete by 8 November, it has been agreed with the Broughty Ferry Traders that work will stop then to allow unrestricted access to shops and businesses in the lead up to Christmas. Apparently, works not completed by 8 November will be undertaken in March 2014.

During the period when Gray Street is restricted to one way, drivers will be diverted via King Street/ St Vincent Street and Brook Street. In addition, parking will be suspended on one side of Gray Street for the duration of the works while pedestrian access will be maintained to both sides of of the street.

While this upgrading is to be welcomed, many constituents and businesses in Broughty Ferry have drawn my attention over the years to the poor state of the pavements in central Broughty Ferry which I have reported to the Council. To name but three stretches of pavement:

• Brook Street, between Fort Street and Westfield Road; 
• King Street between Gray Street and Westfield Road and 
• Brook Street between St Vincent's Street and Gray Street.

So this long overdue upgrade will be:
100 yards better but there are still miles to go!

Pedestrians Want Their Pavement Back

In late September 2012, I reported to the Council that an resident had tripped on a hole in the pavement on the southern end of Claypotts Road in The Ferry. 

Furthermore, her trip had led to a nasty fall from which she sustained two black eyes and a crushed pair of glasses.

 
After a two month interval, work started on resurfacing this section of pavement. 

That was in early December.

Five weeks in on and work seems to have been suspended. 

The path is fenced off by safety barriers and traffic signs indicate that pedestrians should use the pavement on the other side of Claypotts Road.

What residents want to know is when work on this stretch of pavement will be resumed and then completed. 

I have written to the Transportation section of the City Development Department and posed these questions so that I can find some answers for my constituents.

Rapid Rethink Required Over Planned Pavement Upgrading in Broughty Ferry

Click on map to enlarge

When I read a traffic notice issued by the Council on Thursday morning proposing partially closing Gray Street in Broughty Ferry "for the purpose of facilitating kerbing and footway works" I was both surprised and hopeful. I was hopeful that there would be some repairs or improvement to the pavements. I have represented many constituents and traders who have complained about the unevenness of the pavements so it seemed good to know that work might begin in the early new year. My relief rapidly turned to disappointment when I was advised that the upgrading work was going to be a second rate job. It seems that instead of matching the materials used in 2005 to upgrade the pavements in Brook Street between Fort Street and Gray Street, cheaper materials would be used which wouldn't match the texture or colour of the first phase of the upgrading work round the corner.

This all seems at odds with Gray Street being clearly designated in the new Draft Dundee Local Development Plan as a part of the District Shopping Centre with a policy commitment to 'improve their (the District Shopping Areas) attractiveness for businesses and residents'. 

I notice in the City Centre, that improvements to pavements and street furniture have gradually spread to neighbouring streets. For example, Union Street has recently being brought up to the city centre standard. So in the Ferry we want a similar commitment not second rate and patchy pavements.

I was surprised because I had not been properly briefed about this forthcoming work at a point when this was a proposal and disappointed to have been kept out of the loop. Why was this not brought up at the last meeting of the The Ferry Local Community Planning Partnership in November when all Council Services are represented round the table with all Four Ferry Councillors and members of the Community Council and other voluntary projects and groups?

I have written to my fellow Broughty Ferry Councillor and Leader of the Council Ken Guild and the Director of City Development to ask that an immediate pause is put on this. I hope he will tell me that this all a bad dream and the Council's Jacob Marley has come to his senses and determines he won't be cutting any more corners on our new pavements for The Ferry.

Crazy Paving in Brook Street is Accident Waiting to Happen

The poor state of the pavements in central Broughty Ferry is often a source of complaint to me by constituents and local businesses.

On the basis of these accumulated complaints and my observations, I think the worst sections of pavement are more likely to be concrete rather than tarmac. Many sections of these pavements are cracked and the top surface is flaking off leaving an uneven profile. In both these instances, the fractures and the dips in the surface make these sections of pavement prone to further damage from water ingress and frost action.

My photograph features a section of pavement outside Hosie's Electrical Store at 322-4 Brook Street. This pavement is clearly uneven, damaged and unsatisfactory. Unfortunately this is not dissimilar to many other sections of concrete pavement in the centre of The Ferry.

While pavement surfaces like this are undoubtedly unsightly, it is also potentially dangerous, especially for those already prone to falls. Tripping over on such a surface can easily lead to fractures which are costly to the individual casualty and the NHS.

I have written to the Director of Transportation requesting a credible response. In my view, in the long term it is not very effective for the Council to merely do small scale and superficial patch and mend. While this kind of repair may remove an immediate danger by filling in the worst of the potholes, the Council needs a comprehensive resurfacing programme in central Broughty Ferry. The current occasional patch and mend is in the long term a waste of our council tax payers' money.

Paving the Way for Falls Prevention in Broughty Ferry

Click on image to enlarge

Earlier this week, a sprightly constituent over retirement age contacted me about her unfortunate fall. She had tripped on an uneven stretch of pavement on the western side of Claypotts Road just north of the junction with Brook Street and just south of the railway bridge. As a result, she had broken her nose, and had sustained heavy bruising around her eyes and the rest of her face. Frankly she looked as though she had been mugged or had lost a boxing match. Where she tripped the concrete pathway has sections where the surface is crumbling away and this has made the pavement uneven and over time deeper holes have been developing.

I have reported this to the Roads Maintenance Partnership. 

In the last fortnight, I have reported numerous stretches of roads and pavements in The Ferry which are rutted and/or have potholes. While this usually leads to some filling in of those that staff judge to be the worst, some of the patching does not last very long. I think the Council are losing the battle with stretches of roads and pavements falling into disrepair faster than they can be given a temporary fix.

Uneven pavements and potholes are not only a source of potential danger for members of the public but they are also a costly issue for the NHS.

A report on falls and health, published by the Scottish Government in May 2012 confirms this point:

"With an ageing population, falls and the consequences of falls are a major and growing concern for older people."

"Falls and fractures, in people aged 65 and over, account for over 18,000 unscheduled admissions and 390,500 bed days each year in Scotland."

"In addition, in the over 65 population, falls cases are the largest single presentation to the Scottish Ambulance Service (over 35,000 presentation each year)."

Despite these statistics, falls are not an inevitable consequence of old age. I think the Council needs to take its share of responsibility for the cost to the NHS of falls and a serious reduction in the quality of life of those older persons that sustain more serious injuries such as bone fractures.

Quotations above extracted from:

Up and About or Falling Short? - A Report of the Findings of a Mapping of Services for Falls Prevention in Older People Published by the the Scottish Government, 23 May 2012