Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

West Link road predicted to spark Inverness economic boom

31 July 2017: Councillors Allan Henderson, left, and Trish Robertson were given a tour of the West Link bridge and the new Highland Rugby Club building by Highland Council's head of infrastructure Colin Howell, right. Picture: Andrew Smith
31 July 2017: Councillors Allan Henderson, left, and Trish Robertson were given a tour of the West Link bridge and the new Highland Rugby Club building by Highland Council's head of infrastructure Colin Howell, right. Picture: Andrew Smith

Business leaders believe Inverness is on the brink of an economic transformation after a key milestone in the £55million West Link project was reached.

The completion of the new River Ness bridge yestedray prompted hope of a development and tourism boom.

Inverness Chamber of Commerce chief executive Stewart Nicol predicted that the long-awaited bypass would be “significantly more important” to the city and the wider region than anyone anticipated.

As senior councillors became the first people to walk over the new crossing, the local authority confirmed that the first phase of the scheme was on course for completion later this year.

And Highland Council also announced that it would be holding a public vote this autumn to decide the name of the bridge.

It is hoped completion of the West Link will take thousands of vehicles out of the city centre by enabling motorists to travel from the A82 Fort William road to the A96 Aberdeen road and A9 Perth route, via the southern distributor road, the new River Ness crossing and a swing bridge over the Caledonian Canal.

The project has also already paved the way for new housing and other economic development at Ness-side and Torvean, with Tulloch Homes having unveiled a £250million vision to build 800 homes in the area.

But Mr Nicol believes the impact will be even greater than envisaged.

“I think actually the project is going to be significantly more important to the city than has been anticipated,” he said.

“I really sense that this is going to open up the west side of Inverness, connect Scorguie, Kinmylies the Beauly road area much to the southern distributor road, which in turn will connect to the A9 and A96.

“I think very quickly it will become a key part of the city’s infrastructure and I think it will do much more than alleviate pressures in the city centre.

“It will help development around the city but also bring business and tourism opportunities for both the city and region.”

Councillor Allan Henderson, chairman of the authority’s places committee, was one of the first people to cross the river by foot on the new bridge yesterday.

He said: “It is marvellous to be able to finally do this.

“The new route will ease congestion considerably and provide a key strategic link between the communities in the north and south of Inverness.”

Inverness MP Drew Hendry said: “This project has been a long time in the making and I am delighted to see it progressing to this stage.”