Phase 2 of consultation on Inverness City West Link Road Project
Two days of public exhibitions and meetings are to be held as part of a further phase of public consultation to gauge opinion on the options being considered by The Highland Council for the Inverness Trunk Link Road Project - West Link, which will provide a new transport link from the Southern Distributor Road at Dores Road to the A82 trunk road via a fixed link across the River Ness and the Caledonian Canal.
Five options were presented for public comment during the initial stage of consultation last December when a total of 779 responses were received. A further three options emerged from this consultation and these will feature in the forthcoming exhibitions and meetings.
The period of public consultation begins on Wednesday 23 November and will run until 16 January, next year. A Strategic Environmental Assessment has been prepared for the project, which will be published on 23 November, with comments invited during the same consultation period.
From 23 November, the options and the assessment will be available from the home page of the Council’s web site.
On Tuesday 29 November, the options will be exhibited at Kinmylies Church between 11 am – 7 pm followed by a public meeting at the Inverness Leisure Centre, Bught Park, starting at 7.30 pm.
On Thursday 1 December, the options will be exhibited at the Culduthel Christian Centre between 11am – 7 pm followed by a public meeting at Inverness Royal Academy, starting at 7.30 pm.
Representatives from the Council’s Transport Environmental and Community Services will be in attendance at the exhibitions to explain the proposals in greater detail and there will be an opportunity for the public to comment on the proposals.
Councillor John Laing, Chairman of the Transport Environmental and Community Services Committee, said: “We are hoping for a good turn out at the public exhibitions and evening meetings, and would encourage the public to comment on the proposals to help guide us in selecting the preferred option/s for taking this important project forward.”
The Council has established a cross-party working group to oversee the consultation process.
It will be their responsibility to consider the Options Appraisal and take account of comments from the public. The Council will consider the outcome of the Options Appraisal and the feedback from the public consultation when it comes to select the preferred route which will be taken forward for planning consent.
The Working Group met for the first time earlier today (Thursday) when they elected Councillor Laing as their Chairman.
They will meet again before the public consultation begins for additional information from officers . Then the next scheduled meeting is on 27 January, next year, once the public consultation is completed.
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.
Option 6 – Follows a sweeping alignment along the river bank from Dores Road Roundabout to cross the River Ness at the Precast Yard/Weir. Thereafter the link road will follow the toe of the Caledonian Canal embankment to a tandem canal bridge arrangement at Tomnahurich.
Option 7 – Follows a rising embankment from the Dores Road Roundabout to a high level bridge across the River Ness and Caledonian Canal. Thereafter passes through the Torvean Quarry to join the A82 trunk road near the old Quarry access.
Option 8 – Short direct link from Dores Road to the Precast Yard/Weir crossing of the River Ness. It follows the north side of Whin Park to a roundabout at the corner of Bught Road. Thereafter it follows the alignment in cutting through the Canal Park rugby ground underneatrh the canal via an aqueduct. It then follows a rising gradient in cutting through Torvean Golf Course to link with the A82 trunk road and the King Brude Road Junction.