Committee approves road safety actions

The safety of children walking and cycling to and from school and traffic calming measures in Ross-shire villages were under the spot light at last week’s  Skye, Ross and Cromarty Area Committee.

The Committee agreed to award both Mulbuie and Hilton of Cadboll primary schools funding to improve safety for pupils walking and cycling to and from school.

The Highland Council Road Safety Unit was awarded funding of £237,000 to spend on Safer Routes to School projects that encourage active travel and improve safety on routes to school during the financial year 2013/14.  Funded through the Scottish Government Cycling, Walking and Safer Streets Programme Highland schools can apply to the Road Safety Unit to access funding up to a maximum of £30,000 in each financial year.

Successful schemes are project managed by the Council’s Road Safety Team who work closely with the schools to develop Safer Routes to School projects and introduce individual School Travel Plans.

Mulbuie Primary has been awarded £10,000 to install signage, road linings, coloured surfacing and rumble strips outside and on the approach to the school and Hilton of Cadboll school will receive £5,900 to improve safety for pupils who are cycling or walking to the school.

Leader of the Skye, Ross and Cromarty Area Committee, Councillor Hamish Fraser  said: “Our Road Safety Team do a lot of work with schools to encourage pupils, parents and staff to think about their travel choices and consider walking or cycling rather than using a car.  By making routes to schools safer we hope to promote the health benefits of using bikes or walking.  Both these projects will make a difference to the pupils and should lead to less cars being used for school runs which is also good news for our environment.”

Following concerns raised about pupil safety in Plockton, the committee also agreed to introduce a 20mph speed limit and traffic calming speed cushions in the village. It was also agreed that work to calm traffic on Millbank Road in Munlochy be carried out following complaints that vehicles are not complying with the existing 30mph speed limit.  In consultation with the community council, the Council has designed a package of measures to reduce traffic speeds including the introduction of chicanes which will require southbound traffic giving way to northbound vehicles at the north end of Millbank road.

Although 16 objections to this proposal have been made, local Councillor Isobel McCallum said she believed the measures to be fair and well thought out as they were designed to slow down traffic and to accommodate the agricultural vehicles that use the road.