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Fears plans for A96 could lead to ‘scary’ noise levels





Allan Robertson has placed a scarecrow at the location of the new A96 dual carriageway to show how close it is to the village of Balloch.
Allan Robertson has placed a scarecrow at the location of the new A96 dual carriageway to show how close it is to the village of Balloch.

A RETIRED Inverness civil engineer fears three local communities could face a “scary” increase in traffic noise if the A96 is realigned as planned when it’s eventually dualled.

Allan Robertson of Balloch claims that many fellow villagers have been misled by Transport Scotland’s title for the £400 million scheme – “A96 Dualling (including Nairn Bypass).”

He believes this gives the impression that new lanes are going to be laid pretty much along the same route as the existing road.

However, Transport Scotland’s preferred route option for the new dual carriageway deviates considerably from the existing road in several places, and if approved, will be much closer to the northern edges of Balloch, Culloden and Smithton.

“It’s really a new road over farmland, splitting the distance that exists between Balloch and the existing A96, and therefore coming much closer to the village,” said Mr Robertson.

The 68-year-old has highlighted the centre line of the proposed new dual-carriageway at Balloch by erecting a scarecrow and draping white bin-bags over a whin bush.

After examining detailed noise projections worked out by Transport Scotland engineers in its environmental statements, Mr Robertson said: “I thought it was quite scary when I saw how much more noise there was going to be.”

To make matters worse, he said, the proposed new road at Balloch and Smithton will have junctions formed by double roundabouts, so there is potential for additional noise from braking and accelerating vehicles.

Mr Robertson felt so strongly about the proposed new road line that he took out an advert in the Courier showing a noise map of the area and urging villagers to object before the January 31 deadline.

Using World Health Organisation criteria, the Transport Scotland environmental statement says residents in 873 households between Inverness and Nairn will be “seriously annoyed” by daytime noise levels after completion of the scheme, and 242 households will have night time noise levels that cause “adverse health effects due to sleep disturbance.”

Mr Robertson continued: “The new road will be unnecessarily close because Transport Scotland want to reject the better route, north of the existing road.”

Mr Robertson accuses Transport Scotland of shrugging off “this avoidable wrecking of Smithton’s, Culloden’s and Balloch’s environment” by balancing it against the benefits to be felt by residents when Nairn is bypassed.

“People wrongly think they are too small and wont be listened to,” said Mr Robertson.

“But I am a great believer in democracy and would urge people to have a look at the plans and consider objecting.”

Balloch Community Council intends to lodge an objection to the preferred tour on noise, visual impact and air pollution grounds.

However, yesterday Transport Scotland said the chosen scheme will include measures to lessen noise impact including low noise road surfaces, screening through earthworks and the installation of noise barriers such as walls.

A spokesman also pointed out their figure of 873 houses refers to the number of properties across the whole 31km Inverness to Nairn scheme which will experience noise levels above WHO guidance in the year 2036.

“In the Culloden

“However, it is important to note that the assessment shows that most of these houses would actually experience this level of noise regardless of whether or not the dualling is in place.

“Of these 90 properties, only 10 are predicted to experience a perceptible noise level change as a result of the scheme, and most of these changes would be due to traffic flows on local roads.”

He said extensive consultation had taken place with local communities since 2013.

Feedback from previous consultation has been taken into consideration during the development and assessment of the scheme, leading to the draft order now out for formal comment.

“The A96 dualling will bring many benefits to the Highland’s including improved journey time and reliability, improved connectivity and improved road safety for all those who use this key artery connecting Scotland’s two most northerly cities,” continued the spokesman.

“We would encourage anyone with an interest in the scheme to comment before the closing date of Tuesday, January 31.”


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