A project to cut congestion at a notorious bottleneck junction to the south of Inverness has been completed.
Work to alleviate gridlock at Inshes Roundabout has been ongoing since April and has now been finished.
The widened road and new signals are an interim measure as the council awaits a final decision from Transport Scotland on the route of a proposed link road between the A9 Perth route and the A96 Aberdeen road.
The roundabout, which has to cope with traffic from six busy routes, could ultimately be completed replaced in the future.
But community leaders have hailed the interim work as “long awaited” – although they have reserved judgement on its effectiveness.
The work has involved clearly marked new localised flarings on the approach to the existing roundabout, along with new traffic lights and pedestrian crossings, which will make the route easier for drivers, cyclist and pedestrians to navigate.
Although the actual resurfacing work was completed a couple of weeks ago, lane lining and the commissioning of a pedestrian crossing were finalised this week.
It was carried out by Breedon Aggregates Scotland Ltd and the council has praised the contractor for not only ensuring traffic flowed during the work, but for completing the project ahead of schedule and on budget.
Councillor Thomas Prag, who represents Inverness South, said: “It’s long-awaited so it is good to see it finished.
“We had hoped to see it finished some time round about the new year but I understand there were some delays.
“We’ll now need to see if it helps, hopefully it does.
“It’s not the busiest time of year so we’ll have to wait and see.”
The roundabout provides access to Culloden, Inshes Retail Park, Raigmore Hospital, the police HQ, Drakies housing scheme and the A9 trunk road.
Mr Prag said the recent works are an “interim solution” and said he was keen for the council to press ahead with other congestion relieving measures in the area, including creating an extra lane approaching the roundabout from Culloden Road via the road bridge over the A9.
Previous plans revealed by the council suggested that the roundabout could be replaced with a crossroads controlled by traffic lights, depending on the route of Transport Scotland’s “East Link” road.