Call for change on 'extremely dangerous' Inverness junction
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A worried mother fears a child or adult could be killed at a busy city centre pedestrian crossing where she has witnessed “numerous” near-misses with traffic.
Teresa Macpherson believes a confusing configuration of traffic lights is causing a serious accident risk as drivers veer through a red light while the green man is showing.
With three primary schools nearby – Central, St Joseph’s and Bishop Eden – as well as a Tesco supermarket, the crossing at the Tomnahurich Street and Kenneth Street junction is heavily used by school children, parents and shoppers.
Mrs Macpherson (41) and delivery worker husband Brian (44) have suffered several scares themselves while taking Sofia (6) and Daniel (5) to and from school with baby Gabriella. They have personally witnessed one or two near-misses for pedestrians every week in the last month or two.
The most common occurrence is cars coming from the Torvean direction turning left through a red light onto Kenneth Street by misinterpreting the green light signal towards Ness Bridge.
As the couple met our photographer to highlight the issue, he was witness to a car doing exactly that while Mrs Macpherson made to cross.
There have been a host of similar complaints voiced on social media.
“Every week, sometimes twice a week, we’ve seen drivers go through the lights,” she said.
“My five-year-old is always so excited to see the green man and immediately makes to cross the road, so I really need to be careful.
“I’ve seen this happen numerous times for weeks and weeks now, and it is quite frightening to think what might happen to a child, elderly person or anyone else using that busy crossing.
“I’m just hoping that by raising awareness through the Inverness Courier, action to put this right can be taken quickly.”
Mrs Macpherson, whose family live at Maxwell Drive in Dalneigh, described a recent incident involving the husband of a friend.
“I was walking home from our child’s school with just Gabriella in the pram and my friend’s husband was in a group coming the opposite way, walking towards town.
“The green man flashed and he walked, but I had to shout as a large wood lorry came around from behind and almost struck him.
“It didn’t stop – the driver didn’t even realise he was in the wrong. Our friend was quite shaken up.
“It is just extremely dangerous. Someone is going to be killed or badly hurt.”
A spokesperson for BEAR Scotland, the road maintenance and management firm responsible for the crossing, said: “We are aware of the issue and our teams are currently investigating.
“Surveys are organised to help determine the underlying root cause of the issue and we will carry out any alterations required.”
