Working Group selected to appraise Trunk Link Road options

At today’s meeting of The Highland Council it was agreed that a cross party member working group be formed to consider an options appraisal of alternative alignments and layouts for the Inverness Trunk Link Road West Link.  The outcome of this appraisal, along with the group’s recommendations, will then be presented to the public for their views as part of a public consultation exercise.

The area of road network under consideration extends from the Dores Road Roundabout to the A82 at Torvean / Tomnahurich, including a new crossing of the River Ness and the Caledonian Canal.  As part of the options appraisal process the Working Group will consider eight proposed routes under the following headings:

• Environment;
• Accessibility;
• Integration;
• Safety;
• Economy;
• Deliverability

Chairman of The Highland Council’s TEC Services Committee, Councillor John Laing who will be one of 15 elected members to sit on the working group said:  “This is a very complex project for a number of reasons including the technicalities of engineering construction, having to work within the constraints of the River Ness and its flood plains, the Caledonian Canal which is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and the impact on the environment.  We have included this project on our capital programme as part of the wider economic development of the Moray Firth area.  As well as improving connectivity on the strategic road network it will open up land for development, reduce congestion, improve our carbon footprint and travellers from across the Highland area will benefit from this investment.

“We need to make sure all of the routes are thoroughly assessed against set criteria.  Once the appraisal is complete we will put forward our findings and recommendations and it is important that we get as much feedback as possible from stakeholders and the wider pubic.  The public consultation will run from the 23 November until the 16 January so there will be plenty of opportunity for everyone to let us know their thoughts.”

Full details of how people can take part in the consultation will be available once the Working Group have assessed the options appraisal during the second week of November.