Rethink for Invergordon town centre parking

Work is expected to start soon on replacing the current angled parking bays, which were installed in a £500,000 revamp of the High Street one year ago, with parking which is parallel to the pavements.

Council officials confirmed the impending change at a meeting on Thursday with the business and community representatives.

Neil Gillies, Head of Roads and Community Works with The Highland Council’s TEC Services, told the meeting that the current parking design, which required motorists to reverse out of the parking bays into a busy road, was contrary to Highland Council’s Design Guidelines and was therefore a safety hazard.

He said:  "Road safety is the primary consideration and experience has shown that this arrangement, which requires motorists to reverse into a busy road, increases the risk of accidents. We have listened to the concerns of local people; we have closely examined the parking system in operation, and conclude that we must revert to parallel parking as quickly as possible. The work to change to parallel parking will be undertaken with minimum disruption to the High Street."

Highland Councillor for Invergordon, Councillor John Connell, agrees wholeheartedly that the parking bays must be replaced with parallel parking.

He said: "We have to put our hands up and say we got it wrong a year ago when we revamped the High Street to promote a safer pedestrian and shopping environment. The experience of the last year has clearly demonstrated the hazards of the current system.  Safety is the key issue and the Council has no option but to follow clear guidance on this matter and revert to parallel parking.  There will be no loss of parking provision on the High Street as a consequence of these alterations, and there is ample car parking close to the town centre, so this should not be a problem."