Consultant appointed to take forward appraisal of Stromeferry Bypass options

The Highland Council has appointed URS Infrastructure and Environment UK limited to identify solutions to the rock cutting on the A890 Stromeferry road which runs on the south side of Loch Carron.

This route closed to traffic on 22 December last year for essential maintenance work following a major rock fall which resulted in a 140 mile diversion for local traffic.  The Council put alternative transport links in place while stabilisation works were carried out.  The road reopened to traffic on 23 April 2012.
URS, in partnership with The Highland Council, will be holding meetings with all stakeholders to develop and define the options as part of a STAG (Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance) report.

The findings of this initial stage will be reported through a series of public meetings in Spring 2013. Following this, the more detailed options appraisal report will then be prepared by Spring 2014. It is following this second stage that a preferred option can be selected.

Chairman of The Council’s TEC Services Committee, Councillor Graham Phillips said: “When I visited the local communities affected I gave them the reassurance that they would be consulted throughout the whole process.  It is really important that we work closely with all stakeholders as we all realise that delivering a permanent solution is going to be a complex project. The appointment of URS is evidence that we are keeping our promise to deliver a solution. We can now  look forward to progress being made with stage one of the process, and to our next round of consultations.”

 ENDS