Bollards are to be placed on a Johnshaven street to stop vehicles from repeatedly striking homes – leaving residents to pick up the repair bill.
Lorries have often hit two houses on the tight turn in Seaview Terrace.
And homeowners have been urging Aberdeenshire Council to take action for years over the bend at the end of the short road off Back Road.
It comes after they were forced to fork out thousands of pounds for repair work.
Temporary barriers put in place by the local authority were not judged up to the job of stopping the collisions.
What could be done to stop the Johnshaven traffic issue?
So, council road chiefs decided to take action to protect the homes once and for all.
They came up with four potential options using feedback from Benholm and Johnshaven Community Council and letters from residents.
They were:
- A one way system
- Bollards
- Bollards with a height, weight or length restriction
- One way system with bollards
Residents living around Seaview Terrace voiced their support for the bollards on their own as they believed that would act as a deterrent.
But officials believed bollards with a one way system would be the best solution.
Seaview Terrace residents pleaded for bollards
Resident Michael Bennett spoke at a recent Kincardine and Mearns area committtee meeting on behalf of his frustrated neighbours and the community council.
He told councillors the turn made it difficult for some larger vans and lorries to access the street without hitting homes on the corner.
“This has resulted in some vehicles hitting two properties or getting stuck which requires reversing,” Mr Bennett explained.
He told the chamber that the owner of one of the affected properties put up his own barriers which have been hit over the years.
“Bollards alone won’t stop long vehicles from coming down Seaview Terrace, but it will stop them hitting the buildings which is the main issue.”
Bollards ‘might just do the job’
Councillor George Carr backed the call for bollards as he reckoned it “might just do the job”.
He added: “If necessary, we can look at this again if this isn’t the solution…but it will fix this for the time being.”
The committee went on to approve the bollards, but asked for a report on how successful the measure is in a year’s time.
Johnshaven residents get what they wanted
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Bennett said the decision was exactly what residents had been asking for.
He also noted that the bollard in place at the moment was “just good for hanging your coat on”.
Mr Bennett added: “We wanted a simple solution but the bollards need to be correctly placed.
“It won’t stop people going down there, but it will stop the buildings from being hit.”
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