A PREFERRED route for taking the Inverness bypass over the River Ness and Caledonian Canal has been whittled down to three options.
A working group of 15 councillors met in private this morning to consider the findings of a consultation into eight options for the route, which will link the Southern Distributor Road with the A82.
However, at the end of the meeting, no decision had been made on a preferred route - although options two, three, four, five and eight were ruled out.
Further information has been requested on options one, six and seven - the high-level bridge and the public's preferred route.
However, before that, the outcome of the consultation and the options will be discussed at a meeting of Inverness City Committee on 13th February.
This meeting is open to the public.
The working group will meet again on 17th February.
After that a recommendation will be made to a meeting of the full council for approval.
The options range in cost from £23.5 million to £75.5 million. Controversially, several would cross Whin Park, Torvean Golf Club and Highland Rugby Club's pitches.
A public consultation on the options attracted 400 responses.
