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3 June 2009

(S3O-7262) Kessock Bridge (Congestion)

7. Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what considerations it has given to traffic congestion on the Kessock bridge. (S3O-7262)

The Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change (Stewart Stevenson):





A traffic model assessment is being carried out to investigate options for improving peak period traffic flows at the junction at the south end of the Kessock bridge. Preliminary designs are now being prepared, although any improvements at the location will be subject to available funding and competing priorities across the trunk road network.

Peter Peacock: I am grateful for the information that the minister was able to give. As he knows, in such matters, the procedures before anything is actually built can be very long. What plans does he have to advance any statutory procedures that are required as a result of the outcomes of the studies that he mentioned?

Stewart Stevenson: The member will be aware that I was in Inverness on Monday. While there, I drove through the junction, albeit at an off-peak time when the problems were not particularly manifest. However, I am well aware of the issues for people in Inverness and the Black Isle. We must complete the designs before establishing what planning process may be appropriate if we have to provide an engineering remedy. The member will be aware of the Administration's reforms of the planning system and its eagerness to ensure that decisions are made quickly and appropriately. The measures that we are discussing will be no exception.

Dave Thompson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): Much of the congestion in Inverness is caused by the lack of a bypass. The minister said earlier this week that a working group on an Inverness bypass might meet fairly soon. Does he have a date for that meeting yet?

Stewart Stevenson: The next meeting of officials will be later this month. That is a preparatory step before we involve the political decision makers. The relationship between the leader of Highland Council and the Scottish Government ministers is good—we share a sense of common purpose. We will make progress on the joint interests of local and central Government in a spirit of partnership. I expect a meeting to take place in the not-too-distant future, once we have completed the work at official level.

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