Dingwall councillors have warned somebody could die if Transport Scotland doesn’t step in to improve road safety around Conon Bridge.
Councillors Margaret Paterson and Alister Mackinnon made the remarks at a meeting of the north planning committee on Tuesday.
The committee granted planning approval for 27 homes by developer Tulloch, but expressed grave reservations about road safety in the area.
Ms Paterson said local members have tried for years to secure improvements to the staggered junction between the A835 and B9163.
“There’s been so many accidents there,” she said. “In fact, a number of years ago a gentleman was killed there. Both myself and councillor Mackinnon have family who have been in serious accidents there.”
Planning officers said it was unreasonable to ask the developer to improve the junction, but suggested that the council could write to Transport Scotland instead.
Mr Mackinnon pressed the point.
“I stay in Conon Bridge and use that junction on a daily basis,” he said. “There’s hardly a week goes by where there’s not a crash there.
“I am not going to stand here and let somebody die or be seriously injured before something is done.”
‘They go away and do nothing’
Mr Mackinnon said that despite several meetings with councillors, Transport Scotland has not taken any action to improve safety at the junction.
“The problem we have here is that Transport Scotland think that the junction is okay because there are not enough incidents there,” he said. “That’s unacceptable for the people of Conon Bridge.”
Mr Mackinnon said the junction from Alcaig is also a concern, with a pedestrian killed there in recent years.
Both councillors want the council to send a strong, urgent message to the Scottish Government.
“We’ve had so many meetings with them and they go away and they do nothing,” said Mrs Paterson. “What good will another letter do?”
However, chairwoman Maxine Morley-Smith offered reassurance. Mrs Morley-Smith said the council would write as a committee expressing their strong concerns, as well as issuing a press release.
On that basis, members granted planning permission for the Tulloch Homes development near Broompark, Conon Bridge.
