Potholes on the road network have caused problems for drivers Councils are to share an extra £15m from the Scottish government to cover the impact of winter conditions on Scotland’s roads.
The funding is three times the amount made available last year.
A government spokesman said the money would be available for urgent repairs on local roads and cover the extra costs of winter roads maintenance.
Previous estimates have set the cost of repairing the road network in Scotland at £100m.
Up to a tenth of Scotland’s road network is thought to require urgent work to repair damage caused by the severe weather.
Finance Secretary John Swinney said: “Scotland has faced its coldest December in 100 years and it is no surprise that significant additional costs were incurred.
“Both Transport Scotland, who maintain the trunk road network on behalf of the Scottish government, and councils who look after local roads, have worked extremely hard over the last couple of months to keep our roads passable.”
He said “the tremendous efforts” to keep Scotland moving and the cost of extra salt supplies came at a price.
“I have agreed to release an additional £15m for this financial year, allocated across all councils, to cover the exceptional cost of extra winter roads maintenance required this winter and to help councils deal with necessary road repairs,” he said.
“This is three times the extra amount we provided last year and I believe the severity of the conditions faced by councils merits an increase of that size.”
The money is for the financial year 2010/11 and the exact distribution formula is to be discussed further with Cosla, the umbrella group that represents Scotland’s 32 local authorities.
Earlier this week a massive pothole on the M74 motorway in South Lanarkshire caused damage to at least four vehicles.
A large pothole also caused major problems for motorists travelling on the M8 in West Lothian.
Potholes appear in winter when water seeps under a road surface and freezes to form ice. The process undermines the integrity of the carriageway when the temperature rises again, causing cracks or holes.
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