Active travel and road safety work get green light by Highland Council
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Plans to boost road safety and encourage more people to cycle or walk have passed their latest milestone.
Highland councillors on the economy and infrastructure committee last week approved a draft ‘Active Travel’ strategy for the rest of the decade.
It outlines the council’s “vision to make active travel an attractive travel an attractive and realistic choice for more people, more often, for more of their everyday journeys”.
The strategy also featured a document addressing ongoing projects and priority ones that will move forward in the coming financial year.
Chairman of the committee, Councillor Ken Gowans said: “A lot of progress has been made in developing Active Travel projects and getting the necessary infrastructure in place on the ground so I would like to thank everyone who has had a role to play in making this happen.
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“The draft strategy approved [last week] was informed following the feedback we received after sessions of public and internal engagement in spring last year so I would like to thank everyone who engaged with the process.
“Our Active Travel team will continue to work with partners to maximise the delivery of infrastructure across the Highlands and will report progress on the committee’s workflow programme on an annual basis.”
The committee also approved a draft road safety plan for 2024-2030 aimed at reducing and preventing deaths and serious injuries for all road users in the Highland Council area
The plan is focussing on five “pillars of road safety” - safer vehicles, speeds, roads, roadsides and post-crash responses.
Cllr Gowans said: “The council, as the local road’s authority, along with its partners, aims to play its part in delivering a safer, healthier and greener road network for the Highlands.”
He continued: “Through the development of our road safety plan and our active travel strategy, we aim to focus on behavioural change and includes taking forward the new 20mph Speed Limit introduction.
“We are all road users; as pedestrians, cyclists, riders, drivers or passengers, road safety issues affect us all. Collisions on our roads can have a devastating impact on the lives of individuals, friends, families, and communities. We are all too aware that behind every statistic there is pain, suffering and loss felt when someone is killed or seriously injured.
“Our plan is aligned to Transport Scotland’s ‘Road Safety Framework to 2030 – Together, making Scotland’s roads safer’. It recognises and builds upon the progress made to date and seeks continued improvements to road safety in the Highlands.
“This will be by no means easy given the present financial pressures and the resultant impact on future work programmes; however, we cannot afford to be complacent, and it is imperative that its road safety successes of the past are sustained over forthcoming years.”
