Work to install a gate on a Stonehaven road will soon be carried out – raising hopes the route could eventually be open year-round.
The clifftop Bervie Braes is open to one-way traffic between April and October, when the drier weather means there is less chance of a landslip.
The route – which offers scenic views for visitors arriving from Dunnottar Castle – only reopened last year after £3.3million of stabilisation works were carried out on the upper slope following a landslip in 2009.
Many residents and businesses want the route to be open all year, amid fears the town is missing out on revenue from visitors when it is shut.
Earlier this year Aberdeenshire Council ruled out the move, although the suggestion of installing a gate which could close off the road in bad weather was mooted.
Now the local authority has tasked Hunter Construction with installing a gate, creating a better path for cyclists and pedestrians to ensure they can make their way up and down the braes safely, and smoothing sections of the road surface.
Last night Stonehaven councillor Graeme Clark – who wants the Bervie Braes to stay open all year – said it was a “positive” move.
He said: “I don’t see why the road should be closed at all, as long we continue monitoring it.
“We’ve got great forecasting systems, so if there’s any threat at all and the council feels the braes are in danger they should close it for that period only.
“If the council are putting up a gate and improving the road surface, that’s positive – maybe the road will reopen all year and close only when there’s a danger.”
Douglas Samways, chairman of the Stonehaven Town Partnership (STP), said he thought the introduction of the gate would make the route “more flexible” for use.
He added: “I don’t think there’s any reason why the Braes can’t be opened all year, although we do accept there could be extreme weather.
“But just a blanket ban from one randomly selected point in the year to another doesn’t make sense.”
A spokesman for Aberdeenshire Council said: “The work relates to certain measures which require to be undertaken around the summer opening of the Bervie Braes road. This work includes widening and improving the footpath/cycle path, minor patching of the road surface and installing a gate to close the road when conditions require.”