Inverness City - West Link Road Project
Two public meetings are being held this week to gauge opinion on the five options which are being presented by The Highland Council for providing a new transport link from the Southern Distributor Road at Dores Road to the A82 trunk road at Torvean via a fixed link across the River Ness and the Caledonian Canal.
Special Inverness City Ward Forums are being held on Tuesday in Charleston Academy and on Wednesday at Inverness Royal Academy, both starting at 7.30 pm.
Daytime exhibitions are being held on Wednesday in Kinmylies Church and on Thursday in Culduthel Hall, both between 11 am and 7 pm. Representatives from the Council’s Transport Environmental and Community Services will be in attendance at each exhibition to explain the proposals in greater detail and invite comments.
Councillor John Laing, Chairman of the Transport Environmental and Community Services Committee, said: “We hope for a good turn out at the meetings and the public exhibitions and lots of comments to guide us in selecting a preferred option for taking this important project forward.”
The five options are:-
OPTION 1 – Crosses the River Ness at the open ground between Pringles Woollen Mill and the Precast Yard to a roundabout at the western end on the Canal fields then follows the embankment of the canal along the edge of the fields to reach Bught Road adjacent to the Queens Park Athletics Track and thereafter crosses the canal with a low level canal bridge which will operate in tandem with the existing A82 Tomnahurich canal bridge ensuring that one of these bridges will remain open to traffic at all times.
OPTION 2 – Crosses the River Ness at the open ground between Pringles Woollen Mill and the Precast Yard to a roundabout at the western end on the Canal fields then follows the southern edge of the canal fields adjacent to the Weir along the edge of Whin Park to a roundabout on the bend of Bught Road and thereafter traverses the Rugby Ground to a new low level canal swing bridge mid way between the Tomnahurich Canal bridge and the edge of Torvean Quarry which is a Special Area of Scientific Interest then traverses the Golf course to a new roundabout on the A82 trunk road at General Booth Road
OPTION 3 – Crosses the River Ness at its narrowest point between Rossie and Heraghty lodges on Dores Road to land on Whin Park and a new roundabout on Bught Road and thereafter follows Bught Road to a new roundabout adjacent to the Queens Park Athletics Track and thereafter crosses the canal with a low level canal bridge which will operate in tandem with the existing A82 Tomnahurich canal bridge ensuring that one of these bridges will remain open to traffic at all times.
OPTION 4 – Crosses the River Ness at its narrowest point between Rossie and Heraghty lodges on Dores Road to land on Whin Park and a new roundabout on the bend of Bught Road and thereafter traverses the Rugby Ground to a new low level canal swing bridge mid way between the Tomnahurich Canal bridge and the edge of Torvean Quarry which is a Special Area of Scientific Interest then traverses the Golf course to a new roundabout on the A82 trunk road at General Booth Road
OPTION 5 – Crosses the River Ness at its narrowest point between Rossie and Heraghty lodges on Dores Road to land on Whin Park and a new roundabout on the bend of Bught Road and thereafter passes through the Canal parks between the Rugby ground and Whin Park and passes through the middle of the Canal parks to cross the Canal with a low level Canal Bridge close to the edge of the Torvean Quarry which is a Special Area of Scientific Interest then traverses the Golf course to a new roundabout on the A82 trunk road at General Booth Road.