Dangerous riverside potholes in heart of Inverness to be filled before Etape Loch Ness riders use route, Highland councillor confirms

POTHOLE repairs on a notorious section of riverside road in Inverness will be carried out in time for a major cycling event this weekend, a councillor has confirmed.

Inverness South ward member Councillor Duncan Macpherson took to Twitter this week to confirm that parts of Ness Walk between Eden Court and Ballifeary Lane would be repaired before Etape Loch Ness cyclists pass along the road this weekend.

Posting a picture of some deep potholes on the road, he said: "Highland Council Roads Team confirm that potholes near the start / finish line for [the] Etape Loch Ness cycling event on Sunday will be repaired in time to prevent cyclists from incurring damage to their bicycles and possible injuries to the competitors at Ness Walk."

But safe cycling advocates in Inverness have criticised the council's timing given the road's notorious history of potholes, pointing out that "it shouldn't take a sport event for this to happen".

Ness Walk's location next to the river means the road surface has broken up multiple times in the past, and potholes have repeatedly been patched.

However, mooted plans to fully resurface the road never materialised when it was changed to a one-way system and new safety islands were installed a few years ago – and the cycle of crumbling and patching has continued instead.

Road users have long complained about the dangerous potholes that can and have formed there.

Responding to the imminent patching, Critical Mass Inverness, which "advocates for safer cycling streets in Inverness" and leads bike rides open to everyone on the third Thursday of every month, said: "It shouldn’t take a sport event for this to happen. The riverside way is a key part of Inverness’s active travel network– commuter cyclists count too!"

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