Inverness bypass group to be named next week
FIFTEEN councillors will decide the preferred route for the much-awaited Inverness bypass before it is revealed next month.
Members of a cross-party working group of Highland councillors will be named next week and look at ideas for a new road to link the A82, A9 and A96.
The council has £16.5 million allocated for the bypass, which would ease congestion in the city centre by taking traffic away from streets including Kenneth Street and Tomnahurich Street and it hopes to attract another £5 million in developers’ contributions.
Eight options have been examined by council officials and public consultation on the preferred route will take place from 23rd November to 16th January next year.
It will then look at responses from the public before reporting back to a meeting of all the Highland councillors.
The timetable was welcomed by councillors this afternoon but many wanted actions to start now.
"Like other members in the chamber I will resist jumping up and down until the day this is signed and we have got a way forward," said councillor John Laing (Eilean a’ Cheò), chairman of the local authority’s transport committee.
Councillor Laing is guaranteed a place on the working group, alongside the council’s convener Sandy Park (Nairn) and its leader Michael Foxley (Fort William and Ardnamurchan).
Inverness councillors are likely to make up a large proportion of the group’s membership.
"Finding a solution to this is without a doubt the biggest game in town," said councillor David Henderson (Inverness Ness-side).
City provost Jimmy Gray (Inverness Millburn) called for it to go ahead as a matter of urgency, while depute provost Alex Graham (Inverness West) believed the faith of the public could be at risk if progress including planning applications is not soon.
The local authority previously sought the public’s view on five options for a crossing over the River Ness and Caledonian Canal to the west of Inverness, linking the Southern Distributor Road to the A82. But during that process, three new options emerged following feedback from residents.
Options include a bridge crossing over the River Ness between Pringles Woollen Mill and the Precast Yard, either off Dores Road direct, or via a longer river bank route from the Dores Road roundabout, or a bridge crossing between Rossie and Heraghty Lodges on Dores Road, with a swing bridge over the Caledonian Canal between the existing Tomnahurich swing bridge and Torvean Quarry.
Other options include either building a road through the Highland Rugby canal pitches, Torvean Golf Course or part of Whin Park. New options on the table also include an aquaduct/tunnel under the Caledonian Canal or a crossing over the River Ness and Caledonian Canal via a high level viaduct, direct from Dores Road roundabout to the A82.
"There is a lot of work to be done," councillor Norrie Donald (Inverness Ness-side) acknowledged. "There is a pill now that is coming out that helps you live to be 150, so before I leave this Earth I hope to see this completed."
> More on the Inverness bypass in tomorrow’s Courier.
> Big Vote: Should there be a public vote on the route of the Inverness bypass?