Etape Loch Ness pothole repairs spark comedic calls for more cycle events to tackle Highland roads nightmare
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FED-UP road users sick of running a gauntlet of potholes in the Highlands have joked that the region needs more Etape cycling events – after Highland Council fixed the road surface on a key part of this weekend's route.
Inverness South ward councillor Duncan Macpherson this week confirmed that parts of Ness Walk between Eden Court and Ballifeary Lane in Inverness would be repaired before the cycle event passes along the road this Sunday – amid fears the potholes would prove dangerous to riders.
That section of road has been notorious for ruts and potholes for a number of years. And the timing of the pothole repairs sparked one cycling group to argue why it had taken the imminent arrival of Etape to do something they felt should have been done for city cyclists many months ago.
The timing certainly struck a chord with Inverness residents and the wider Highland community, with many finding comedy in the situation after the Courier story hit the web.
As Claire EIizabeth succinctly put it in her reaction on the Courier's Facebook page: "The whole of the Highlands will have to introduce cycle events now."
And that sentiment was certainly shared by more than a few others.
Ashley Stewart said: "They should make the race cover every road in Inverness then our pothole problem would be solved."
And another commenter added: "I think that we should have cycle events like the Etape in the area every week and use different routes each time. Hey presto in no time at all, all the pot holes would be filled in."
Elizabeth Morrison added: "Etape would be very welcome in the Isle of Skye if this is all it takes to get the pot holes filled in. Amazing how money is found in and around Inverness!"
Another joked that there might be a more prosaic reason for the Ness Walk repairs.
"Must be someone from the council doing the race!" said Fraser Taylor.
Quite.
Elsewhere, the dozens of comments that flooded in ranged from delight that the repairs had been made, to others complaining that motorists had been ignored.
Darren Williams was full of praise, saying: "I cycled it this evening on the way home and it was bloody marvellous… and as a consequence I will probably cycle it tomorrow too. Good job Highland Council."
And, although people's road tax hasn't directly paid for the upkeep of the country's roads since 1937 – when government ring-fencing of it for that purpose ended – a number of commentators also asked why it took a cycle event to repair a road motorists had long complained about.
Shaun Simpson said: "Why fix potholes now when you've ignored motorists for months?"
Barbara McKee added: "Why is everything done to accommodate cyclists and car drivers can complain all they like and nothing is done?"
Alice MacDonald said: "Awe well, we can all hit the potholes and pay for damage caused to our cars, long after it's been reported, but I've heard it all now, they are being filled in to accommodate a bike race."
And Carol Hammond wrote: "Road repairs for cyclists, what about the car drivers who pay the road tax!!"
But more than a few readers were also simply happy to see the potholes repaired:
As Debs Larnach put it: "Why are people getting so annoyed about this? Is it not good that the pot holes are getting filled regardless of the why??
"A cyclist hitting a pothole will come off far worse than a person sitting in their car hitting it."
– What do you think? Email newsdesk@hnmedia.co.uk
