Why does it take over a year to paint yellow lines on a road’ asks Fife councillor

Kathleen Leslie, who represents Burntisland, Kinghorn and Western Kirkcaldy, said she was frustrated by the length of time being taken to do the work.

She said: “It may seem like a fairly small matter, but for the residents on St James Place in Kinghorn they have been waiting for the extension of some double yellow road markings along the seafront by the RNLI Lifeboat Station for over a year now.” She has followed it up with transportation officers at Fife House and “become increasingly frustrated about the complete lack of action to get the job done.” Cllr Leslie said: “This was agreed at the Kirkcaldy Area Committee in August 2023. More than a year on I have had emails from transportation prevaricating on when work will be carried out. There is a process that allows for objections to be raised, this all seemed to pass without any concern.

“Then I was told this summer that an estimated date would be provided. Now we are into late September and the last correspondence I had from Transportation was two weeks ago saying I was to be provided with a further update. So far, nothing.”

She added: “Given that the committee approved this over a year ago and last year’s budget allocated additional funding for roads I really do wonder what is going on. Residents have been in contact with me to enquire why nothing has happened and I am having to tell them I am waiting on an update which really, in terms of the work the Council undertakes on roads, this is pretty straightforward and inexpensive.

“I will continue to push to have this work completed because whilst this may be a small piece of road the bigger picture is the location.

“Are we really saying it is ok to do nothing when this is on the road where the lifeboat station is? Fife Council needs to get a grip and get this sorted.”

In response, Alistair Donald, service manager for roads design and build said: "Unfortunately these lining works had to be rescheduled due to a requirement for contractor repair works at the same location. The repairs are now complete, and the lining work is currently identified as a priority. I would hope to see this complete early in October."