New plans are being drawn up to improve a pedestrian thoroughfare in Oban town centre after original designs came in over budget.
Argyll and Bute Council had allocated £250,000 of Place Based Investment Programme Funding for Gibraltar Street.
The money was to be spent enhancing the public area and improving access to the town centre.
Gibraltar Street links Argyll Square with Tesco car park, which leads on to Lochavullin Industrial Estate, where shops including Argos, Homebase and M&S are based.
But the council’s area committee for Oban, Lorn and the Isles heard the job was unexpectedly complex.
The sloping nature of the cobbled path and the discovery of underground utilities, coupled with rising costs in the construction industry were to blame.
Architects plans are over budget
So the plans drawn up by TGP Landscape Architects on behalf of the council are now over budget.
With £40,000 of the funding being spent to get to this stage, a remaining budget of £210,000 is left.
Fergus Murray, head of economic development, addressed the committee.
He said: “It’s a small street, but a very important street because it links the town centre with a major retail area including Tesco, which has the largest free car park in the town.
“It is well used by visitors and people in Oban.
“When the opportunity came up we felt this was a project we should look at to take forward.
“We embarked on consultation and originally hoped we could extend it into Tesco car park. But they have gone forward with their own refurbishment programme.”
Mr Murray explained that the reduced size of the site restricted possibilities for redevelopment.
‘Our own engineers didn’t have the capacity to do it at that time’
He explained: “We had to take advice from specialists and had to look at structural aspects of the street.
“Our own engineers didn’t have capacity to do it at that time.
“What we have concluded at the end of consultation, in terms of design it doesn’t give a perfect solution for that street.
“We took consideration of the consultation exercise we have done. The original option is in excess of the budget we have available.”
Now officers intend to make a significant investment in the thoroughfare without changing its layout.
Then they will come back to the area committee with a refreshed design plan.
Mr Murray added: “It has been a difficult project. We thought it would be easy. But there are structural issues in the street.
“The option we prefer would not alter the situation there now. That option would be considerably cheaper than option 1 but would be well within budget.”
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