A COUNCILLOR has blasted road work delays after it emerged work promised to go ahead days ago had not begun.

Tory councillor Thomas Kerr was blindsided after he visited the site only to find no work was being carried out to create an ambitious new cycle route connecting the East End and the rest of the city.

It was only after the Glasgow Times visited the site with the Shettleston councillor that it emerged work was not going on.

Residents had been expecting work to commence on Monday after plans to build segregated cycle lanes connecting Hamilton Road with the city centre, via London Road were approved.

On visiting the site yesterday, there was no evidence of a building site or that work was ongoing.

Conservative councillor Thomas Kerr blasted the council for the delay to the “long overdue” improvements.

Glasgow Times:

He said: “It is incredibly disappointing to learn that these works have again been delayed.

“As a ward member I had been given a commitment that construction would begin this week and to find out that this is not the case only after personally visiting the site is a disgrace.

“Unfortunately the people of the East End are used to being let down by successive Labour and SNP run councils.

“This pedestrian crossing and cycling infrastructure is a long overdue investment in the safety and transport opportunities afforded to Shettleston residents.

“I have a mandate from the electorate to see these works through and won’t rest until they are completed.”

Glasgow Times:

Mr Kerr has campaigned since his election to represent Shettleston in 2017 for a pedestrian crossing at the junctions of London Road, Hamilton Road and Mount Vernon Avenue. These plans have been incorporated into the council’s East City Way scheme, which will create segregated cycle routes connecting the East End to the city centre.

In an email seen by the Glasgow Times, sent on August 5, East End councillors were told that construction would begin on Monday, 17 August. The council expects "substantial completion" of the works by the end of December 2020, according to the email.

Speaking before it was revealed work had not yet begun, Mr Kerr said: “This will make it a lot safer for people in the area. Ever since I was elected the council has tried to push active travel.

“The area at the entrance to Mout Vernon station is really hard to link with active travel because it’s so dangerous.

“A pedestrian crossing will make it a lot easier for people to embrace active travel.

“You can’t tell people to get a bus or get a train or cycle if you’re risking your life every morning to cross the road. It doesn’t make any sense.”

Glasgow Times:

The Shettleston councillor said that the area has been neglected in the provision of safer cycle lanes, which have been introduced already in the South Side, with the South City Way under construction.

According to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, Glasgow’s East End has some of the poorest health outcomes in Scotland, with Cartyne being ranked earlier this year as the second-most deprived area in the country.

“This will start to encourage people into active travel,” Mr Kerr went on.

“I stay down the road in Parkhead and I’d love to be able to cycle down the road if I felt safe doing it.

“For people in this area, there’s no provision.

“There’s a small bit marked out with paint but there’s nothing there to protect you.”

A council spokesman said: “We had hoped the contractor would be on site this week to begin work this vital part of the East City Way cycling route.

“However, due to widespread difficulties in accessing building materials, the work has unfortunately been delayed.

“We have been assured the delivery of the materials has been rescheduled and work will commence later this month.”