Still no answers about cause of Raith underpass flooding

The Scottish Government has admitted it still doesn't know what caused the new Raith underpass to flood, just days after it opened.
Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Keith Brown MSPCabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Keith Brown MSP
Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Keith Brown MSP

Having only opened on Thursday,February 16, one lane had to be closed for hours on the evening of Tuesday, February 21, after heavy rain fell.

Transport Scotland confirming a drainage issue was to blame, but refused to reveal what the problem actually was.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Central Scotland list MSP Margaret Mitchell wrote to Transport Minister Humza Yousaf in a bid to get more information.

Keith Brown, the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work, responded on the Minister’s behalf as the M8 M73 M74 Motorway Improvments Project falls within his portfolio.

He stated that as a result of the flooding, the view of the Scottish Roads Partnership was that there was ‘no significant disruption to traffic’ despite one lane of the northbound carriageway being closed.

He went on to say investigations are underway to assist the contractor in understanding the extent of the problem and a permanent repair will be carried out in due course.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mr Brown said: “Although every effort is made to ensure that this project is delivered to a high standard, unfortunately, from time to time some snagging become necessary.”

Mrs Mitchell was left unsatisfied by this answer, as there are no guarantees a similar incident won’t happen again.

She said: “The letter from Keith Brown leaves road users in the local area without reassurance that this problem has been resolved.

“It seems at this stage the Scottish Government and the Scottish Roads Partnership do not know precisely what went wrong or, for the time being, how to stop the flooding happening again.

“Hopefully the issue will be resolved as soon as possible.

“Road users have had to endure enough in this area without further problems materialising to try their patience.”