Highland Council officers seek clarity on Inshes roundabout plans
Council officers are seeking clarity on plans – lodged by Highland Council itself – to ease congestion at Inshes roundabout, Inverness.
The council’s transport planning team has asked for further details relating to the application to create three new accesses from the B9006 to Drakies housing estate, Police Scotland’s Highlands and Islands headquarters and Inshes Retail Park and to stop up accesses at four points.
It is seeking answers on a range of issues including the impact on traffic, active travel routes and changes to the junction at Drumossie Avenue and Old Perth Road.
In a response lodged as part of the planning process, officers state they had been unable to determine whether any risks had been identified of queuing traffic between the new signalised junction serving the retail park and the reconfigured Inshes roundabout.
“We recommend that further clarification is provided on these matters so that the operational effectiveness of the proposals can be understood,” the response states.
It also raises questions about road designs based on an additional A9 overbridge being provided through the A9/A96 East Link project.
“We recommend that further clarification is provided on whether the new A9 overbridge needs to be in place to support the proposed designs for the new Inshes Retail Park junction and if not, provide design details that demonstrate how it will operate without that new overbridge,” the response states.
Questions are also raised about the purpose of a proposed new pedestrian crossing point of the exit loop from the Tesco petrol filling station.
If the crossing is still deemed necessary, the transport planning team says further consideration should be given to how onward walking and cycling journeys making use of that crossing are effectively catered for including design details on changes to the main B9006 and how it would be impacted by the proposed new junctions and sections of stopping-up.
