‘Watch city grind to a halt’ – fears over Inverness traffic plan
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Controversial plans to limit traffic access to Academy Street should be trialled in the first instance.
That is the view of Visit Inverness Loch Ness tourism BID chairwoman Jo De Sylva, reacting to council information sessions on the project.
She has challenged Highland Council to put in temporary measures for a week, then see if they stand by their Inverness city centre plans.
Under the latest iteration of the scheme, bus lanes will be incorporated as part of Academy Street, between the junctions with Queensgate and Union Street, preventing it being used as a through route by private vehicles.
The design also proposes significantly widened footpaths, improved pedestrian crossing facilities, and a range of opportunities for enhancing the area with street furniture and trees.
But Ms De Sylva believes limiting vehicles here will simply increase traffic elsewhere.
Highland Council hosted a series of information sessions at the Spectrum Centre this week, giving traders and the public opportunities to view plans and offer their opinions and suggestions.
Ms De Sylva said she attended one of these sessions and explained how she has to use Academy Street twice a day, at peak times.
“The response I got was that I could drive through the Crown area instead to access the city centre,” she said.
“I’m not sure how happy Crown residents would be to know their streets are being suggested as an alternative route when they are already extremely busy at peak times.”
In a post on social media Ms De Sylva said the suggested diversion would add an extra 40 minutes per day to her travel time.
She added: “I would suggest the council puts these measures in place for a week using temporary traffic cone diversions and the watches as the city grinds to a halt.
“This may bring them to their senses.”
Speaking to the Courier yesterday she said she would be happy to see a longer trial if that was deemed appropriate and was prepared to have her fears confounded, though she didn’t think that was likely.
“I think everybody agrees that something should be done about Academy Street in terms of making it more attractive,” she said.
“I would like to see wider pavements, an improved streetscape, that makes it more attractive to pedestrians, but I don’t think the council has properly thought through the impact of what it is proposing.
“If the traffic is not on Academy Street, where is it going to go?”
Highland Council’s Shane Manning, principal traffic officer and a member of the project team, said the council could not comment on an individual’s view as the consultation process was ongoing, but added that all contributions are valid.
“We are listening to the views of everyone and will be taking them forward,” he said.
“All that information will be fed into a question and answer sheet.
“Nothing is cast in stone.”
