A rubbish way to welcome visitors

Initiative Road, in Kirkintilloch, was built at a cost of £30million to attract new businesses and visitors by connecting the town centre directly with the motorway network.

But since opening in December 2010 there have been regular complaints about the state the road has been allowed to get into.

The road has STILL not been formally adopted by East Dunbartonshire Council, leaving the responsibility for its upkeep with the Kirkintilloch Link Road Management Board – made up of representatives from the council, NHS and the consortium of builders from the nearby Woodilee Village housing development.

One Herald reader said: “They occasionally have a clear up but it doesn’t seem to be much more than once a year - meaning the road spends most of the time in a dreadful state.

“The section just as you come into Kirkintilloch is the worst at the moment - it gives a dreadful first impression of the town.”

But Ian Shearer, the council’s corporate asset manager, refused to take action, initially saying that the council had NO responsibility for the road, before admitting: “The [management] group is responsible for the delivery of the road through the construction phase and subsequent until the road is adopted by the council. East Dunbartonshire does have a representative on the board.”