Community activity day to focus on Highland Council's Riverside Way plans for Inverness

A community activity day will take place in Inverness next weekend at key locations along the River Ness, giving people the chance to put forward their ideas and comments on a proposed network of walking and cycling routes that will form a new Riverside Way.

The Riverside Way Active Travel project covers the route along the west side of the river linking the new West Link road with the city centre and is one of the key routes identified in the Inverness City Active Travel Network.

The project aims to identify options for the design and management of the routes through this area that will minimise the impact of major events on the local community, enhance active travel infrastructure for walkers and cyclists and investigate options for improving amenity and the leisure experience in this part of the city.

Organised by Highland Council and Sustrans, the activity day next Saturday includes three free events.

• There will be a pop-up picnic outside Eden Court from 10am-3pm. Proposals following earlier community consultation sessions will be on display and people coming along will be encouraged to talk about their ideas and suggestions to create a safer and healthier Inverness that promotes walking and cycling around the city.
• A walking workshop will set off from outside the Inverness Botanic Gardens at 11am. This is a chance for people to take part in a relaxing riverside walk and talk about any accessibility challenges and hear how the proposed active travel network can create opportunities for improvements. The walk will end at the pop-up picnic at Eden Court.
• From 1pm-3pm there will be a drop-in postcard making workshop at the corner of Bught Park, opposite Inverness Crazy Golf.

All the activities are free and there is no need to book.

Inverness Vice Provost Graham Ross said: “The Activity Day next Saturday is a chance for people to feed into the design of the Riverside Way, particularly in terms of signage and way-finding for pedestrians and cyclists. We want to know what people feel works just now and what could be done to make the area more attractive and more accessible for walkers and cyclists.

"All the input gathered during the activity day will provide useful information for future design stages. We hope people come and drop-in, take part, have fun and tell us what they think.”

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