Aberdeen City Council’s budget for fixing potholes could be plundered to help cover a £2million bill to replace hundreds of ageing street lights.
Road resurfacing projects could be reviewed and cash diverted to meet the cost of replacing lampposts deemed a safety hazard.
But a report by officials has acknowledged that the proposal would be “detrimental” to work to improve the local road network.
The Labour-led administration agreed a £4million programme of improvements in March – £2million of which was for resurfacing streets on a priority basis.
But some of that work could now be scaled back, according to a report prepared for next week’s meeting of the enterprise, planning and infrastructure committee.
Last night, committee convener Barney Crockett said the council had “tough decisions” to make, and had to put public safety first.
He added that further “adjustments” could be made to find funding from other budgets in the future.
But a spokesman for the AA said hard-pressed motorists already paying road tax and council tax were not seeing signs of the money being reinvested in the road network.
Testing of street light columns across the city found that 94 need to be removed immediately, while arrangements will have to be made to take down a further 110.
Officials have since estimated that 721 of the remaining 4,881 columns will need to be renewed.
Studies revealed that columns which showed no external signs of damage were found to be rusting from the inside out.
The report suggests a number of options, including removing columns and replacing them only when money is available, which could leave large areas of streets unlit.
That is described as “undesirable”, but another proposal is to “re-evaluate” road improvement works to help pay for the column replacements.
The recommendation is to divert funding from the roads capital budget, agreed in March, to pay for new lights.
It is estimated that £2million could be required over the next five years to renew all of the lighting columns.
Mr Crockett said there would be long-term budget savings from fitting improved lighting fixtures around the city.
He said: “I think we are trying to be prudent, but also putting safety first, which we always have to do.
“Every councillor is used to hearing from people about problems with roads and potholes, but we have a tough decision-making role.
“Councillors will look at all the facts and will realise that we have to make this adjustment.
“There could well be other adjustments in the near future to find other sources of funding for it, but at the moment, we have to do what is right in terms of safety and what’s right for road users.”
The spokesman for motoring agency the AA said councils across the UK were facing difficult choices amid ongoing public spending cuts.
He said: “In this instance, it should not really be one or the other.
“A car driver or cyclist can come to grief due to a pothole, but if a street lamp column fell down it would potentially cause problems for drivers and cyclists too.
“Crudely speaking, it comes down to the council being able to defend its decision-making, whether road users think it is fair is another matter.
“They pay so much in road tax – £46billion across the UK every year – and they don’t see that sort of money being invested in the network, even for essential road safety measures like this.”
Among the roads on the list for resurfacing in Aberdeen this financial year are sections of Great Northern Road, Powis Terrace, Beach Boulevard, Market Street, Trinity Quay, King Street, Lang Stracht, Cairngorm Drive, Kingswells Crescent and Hilton Avenue.
Pavements at Provost Fraser Drive, Richmondhill Place, Harlaw Road, Cairnwell Drive, Windford Road, Walker Road, Manor Walk, and Fernhill Road are also due to be repaired.
The enterprise, planning and infrastructure committee meets on Tuesday, June 3.
