An extra ISK 150 million for road repairs

The Environment and Planning Department of the City of Reykjavik has approved a recommendation to the City Council to increase expenditure on road repairs by ISK 150 million (approx. €1 million). The extra funds would be used to cover urgent repairs on roads damaged over the winter.

“The weather this winter has caused a considerable amount of damage to the city’s roads. It is also clear than in the years following the financial crash expenditure on road repairs has been cut back. The real value of the funds allocated to such repairs has also fallen considerably owing to the falling value of the Icelandic króna. A review of the state of the roads will be conducted in March and April and the maintenance and repair needs assessed. These extra funds are needed over and above the extra ISK 100 million (approx. €670,000) already budgeted for 2015,” reads the proposal.

Júlíus Vífill Ingvarsson, city councillor for Independence Party (‘Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn’), blames cutbacks under the previous administration for the current unacceptable state of the roads. In his view, the emergency repairs now required will cost more than normal annual maintenance would have. Councillors from two parties suggests that the extra funding could be found by scrapping the proposed project of narrowing Grensásvegur.

Representatives of other parties have pointed out that the cutbacks began in the 2009 financial year, when the Independence Party led the City Council, while acknowledging the reasons behind the decision. They also point out that the budget for road repairs for 2015 is back up to 2008 levels.