Two years of Academy Street bickering has left us all dizzy

There are no roundabouts on Academy Street but it still feels like we’ve been going around in circles for a while.

It’s been more than two years since plans emerged to radically change things on Inverness’s main thoroughfare.

And whether you believe reducing traffic on the road is the one of the first signs of the apocalypse or the start of a brave new world, you probably still have one thing in common.

You’re exhausted.

There’s been a consultation, a vote, another vote, a legal challenge and an appeal and as it stands, we’re completely in the dark about what’s going to happen next.

When those first artist’s impressions dropped in the summer of 2022, surely even the most pessimistic among us couldn’t have imagined that we’d still be bickering about the concept as we close in on the mid-point of the decade?

Businesses send strong message about Academy Street ‘havoc’

The initial public consultation about Highland Council’s plans for Academy Street brought fairly positive results.

Feedback from the online portal set up for the proposal showed that 68% of 521 responses viewed the plans favourably.

The Press and Journal also hosted its own poll in 2023. It received more than 900 votes and 60% of people supported the changes.

However, the results of the survey of city centre businesses we are publishing today can’t be ignored.

Many businesses want to scrap the Academy Street plans. Image Sandy McCook/DC Thomson

These are the views of people whose livelihoods depend on a vibrant and successful downtown core.

74 of the 90 businesses who responded (82%) said they want the council to go back to the drawing board.

And the comments included alongside those selections are even more striking.

“It’s the only sensible thing to do, the council needs to stop flogging a dead horse,” said one.

“Closing the only cross-city centre arterial route will by default create havoc elsewhere in the city,” added another.

Majority agree that Academy Street needs some sort of change

There’s clearly a divide across the city when it comes to the merits of the plan.

But there is one aspect that seems to have united most of us.

That Academy Street needs to change. Hardly anyone is hanging their hat on the road as it currently stands.

It’s cluttered, it’s ugly and not fit to be the main route of a city that is largely extremely easy on the eye.

Of course, deciding how drastic those changes need to be is what’s causing the commotion.

The scheme aims to shift the focus in Academy Street from driving to walking, cycling and wheeling. Image: Highland Council

One survey respondent said: “No one is against fabric improvements being made. But proper thought must given to traffic flow.”

Another said they recognised changes need to be made, but what’s on the table isn’t the right one.

“The principle of the proposal seems logical,” they added. “There simply needs to be a comprehensive consultation process and further options considered.”

The artist’s impression of a brighter future for Academy Street undoubtedly look nice.

But is it a window into how much better it soon could be? Or a fantasy that masks the problems it would create?

‘Vote this way on Academy Street, or I’ll never speak to you again’

It feels like we’re still a long way from reaching a conclusion on this one.

And even though nothing has really been decided, at least we’ve learned some things.

One is that if you thought Inverness was immune from the sort of anger and polarisation that has defined global politics in the last decade, you’re sadly mistaken.

Although if you remember the tilting pier, the Town House renovation or the River Ness flood alleviation scheme you’ll be accustomed to the city being split when faced with a fork in the road.

One Inverness councillor told me recently that before one of the crucial votes, someone they’d known for years pulled them aside for a chat.