Motorway closures due to road works or incidents over last 5 years: EIR release

Information request and response under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004


Information requested

1. In each of the last five years the total number of hours of road works that has taken place on each of these roads:

  • M73
  • M74
  • M77
  • M8
  • M80
  • M898
  • M876
  • M9
  • M90
  • A823(M)

2. In each of the last five years the total number of hours of road closure that has taken place on each of these roads due to road works:

  • M73
  • M74
  • M77
  • M8
  • M80
  • M898
  • M876
  • M9
  • M90
  • A823(M)

3. In each of the last five years the total number of hours of lane closure that has taken place on each of these roads due to road works:

  • M73
  • M74
  • M77
  • M8
  • M80
  • M898
  • M876
  • M9
  • M90
  • A823(M)

4. In each of the last five years the total number of hours of road closure that has taken place on each of these roads due to road accidents:

  • M73
  • M74
  • M77
  • M8
  • M80
  • M898
  • M876
  • M9
  • M90
  • A823(M)

5. In each of the last five years the total number of hours of lane closure that has taken place on each of these roads due to road accidents:

  • M73
  • M74
  • M77
  • M8
  • M80
  • M898
  • M876
  • M9
  • M90
  • A823(M)

Response

As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

To aid with my response I have retained the numbering from the request above:

1-3. Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), Transport Scotland is not required to provide information which it does not have. We do not have not have some of the information you have requested because Transport Scotland does not record how many hours lanes/roads are closed as a result of roadworks.

This exception is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in information about lane and road closures, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

However, you may wish to contact the Scottish Road Works Commissioner at https://roadworks.scot/contact-us who who may be able to help you.

4-5) Please see Annex A to this response for a details of lane and road closures held on our Asset Management Performance System (AMPS) for the roads you were interested in. Please note, the figures for closures are in minutes.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202400397427 - Information Released - Annex A

Contact

Please quote the FOI reference
Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000

The Scottish Government
St Andrews House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG

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