Highland Council will review all car parking west of the River Ness in Inverness after concerns were raised about the loss of spaces in Huntly Street.
Councillors agreed to approve contentious plans to remove parking spaces and ban left turns onto Ness Bridge out of the riverside street yesterday following a heated debate.
Members of the City of Inverness area committee were split on whether reducing the number of cars on Huntly Street would be good for businesses operating on the banks of the River Ness.
Councillor Janet Campbell, Inverness Central, told the meeting that the council had to protect “precious businesses” who had “already lost out badly” during the construction of the River Ness Flood Alleviation Scheme.
However, Councillor Richard Laird argued that footfall could increase in the area if the road is made more “user friendly to pedestrians and cyclists”.
Yesterday city councillors agreed to provide 50 parking spaces between Friars Place and Huntly Street. Before the flood works there were 101 parking spaces in the two streets.
They also agreed to ban traffic turning left out of Huntly Street onto Ness Bridge and the city centre in a bid to stop motorists using the riverside as a rat-run.
Members agreed the proposals after being told that not doing so would have meant reverting to traffic management used earlier in the flood scheme, which had even less available parking.
The authority will also review all parking on the west side of the River Ness within the next 12 months.
The plans had been criticised by businesses such as the Westbourne Guest House and the Royal British Legion who felt they would damage the street.
They also suggested that banning the left turn onto Ness Bridge would simply lead to rat-run motorists using the already congested Kenneth Street instead.
However, Mr Laird argued that this argument was a “red herring” as there had not been rise in traffic while the flood work was ongoing.
Mrs Campbell said: “I just think that in this case we could have done better, we should have done better and we can do better in future.”
Councillor Thomas Prag, Inverness South, added: “There are precious businesses but this is a precious riverside too.
“We have invested a lot of money in the flood scheme and we are putting a small fortune into creating artworks along the river.
“We would be a laughing stock if we just reintroduced a load of cars all over the place.”
The council’s project manager for the flood scheme Colin Howell said: “Essentially the issue is that we are trying to create a lovely pedestrian and cyclist friendly area and introducing car parking extensively would be in conflict with that.”