Responsibilities

Transport Scotland is responsible for maintaining Scotland’s trunk roads.

Testing the skid resistance of the M8
trial section

It is vital that the trunk road network is safe to use and well maintained, which is why we have contracts in place with three Operating Companies to manage and maintain our motorways and trunk roads.

As well as overseeing regular maintenance and minor improvement works, where possible we bring forward many new improvement projects. These can include extensions to existing roads, new bridges and reconstruction of existing ones.

In some cases, maintenance operations may lead to unavoidable delays at road works. To minimise disruption, we programme the works to take place during quieter periods whenever possible.

In addition to regular maintenance, we operate individual “Design, Build, Finance and Operate” (DBFO) for some of our larger contracts, such as:

• the A74(M) from Junction 12 to the English Border (DBFO Autolink)
• the M77 from Junction 5 to Fenwick (PPP Connect)
• the M80 from Stepps to Haggs (Highway Management (Scotland) Ltd)

While we are responsible for the trunk road network, Scotland’s 32 Local Authorities are responsible for the maintenance and safe operation of Scotland’s local road network. See individual Local Authority websites for further information.