Work has finally started on the controversial road which will “drag the Highland capital into the 21st century” and end years of traffic chaos.
After decades on the drawing board construction of the £55million West Link route in Inverness is under way.
And local authority leaders have pledged it heralds the start of big things for the city and the wider north region.
The West Link – which will effectively be a bypass connecting the Inverness-Perth A9 with the Inverness-Fort William A82 – is due to be completed by 2019.
Councillors and local authority officials gathered yesterday for a small ceremony to mark the start of construction work.
Highland Council leader Margaret Davidson said the new road would ease the gridlock which has plagued the city for years.
She said: “I’m quite sure that there aren’t many people who have been in Inverness this summer who haven’t been caught up in the traffic chaos at some point.
“There is a real issue about capacity on our city roads and we need new infrastructure to disperse it and take pressure off the city centre.
“It’s about 30 years since we did any real work on the likes of the Ness Bridge and we can’t even contemplate doing that until we’ve built a new crossing to deal with some of the traffic.”
She added: “This is going to be the first phase of major infrastructure developments around Inverness.
“We’ve got the City Deal coming and that’s going to lead to huge investment in sports facilities around here, which will be fantastic.
“The whole package is going to lift Inverness way into the 21st century at last and it’s going to make a huge difference.
“You’ve got the West Link and Transport Scotland have made a clear commitment to talk about investing in the east link between the A9 and the A96.
“We’ve got the Kessock Roundabout which is definitely on their investment plans now and we need to get that moving most of all. That’s a disaster every morning and evening.
“This is lap one and we’ll get on with it because it’s a big complex one and then the others will follow.”
City provost Helen Carmichael said: “I’ve been a councillor for nearly 13 years and I’ve heard all the different stages, and it’s just terrific to be here to see it getting started.
“It will make a big difference to the city because all of the traffic that’s passing by at the moment will be able to go straight across and won’t need to go into the centre of town.
“Any project has criticism and people are entitled to their views but this needs to be done for Inverness.”
Building the road will mean 129 established trees along Glenurquhart Road, Bught Road and the banks of the River Ness being chopped down to open up the new route in the next four weeks.
The felled trees will be replaced with 178 established trees and more than 3,000 saplings.
The tree felling and other preparatory work will allow contractors to start on the actual road in April next year, and on the bridge over the river in June.
Campaigners, including former city councillor Katrina Coutts, have fought the route choice for several years.
For the past 35 years she has called for a higher fixed bridge over the canal and is continuing to push for an alternative to be considered.
Last night she said: “The chosen route is still a complete waste of money and will not help to relieve any of the traffic problems in Inverness.”
The council unanimously approved the plans earlier this year, with the new route crossing the Caledonian Canal via a new swing bridge at Tomnahurich and a fixed bridge over the river from Bught Park to Ness-side.
Calls have been made for a tunnels or a high-level bridge to be used instead of the proposed swing bridge.
However, the council opted to press ahead with the finalised route, which is known as option 6.