‘It’s just a mess’ - residents share traffic fears at Nairn bypass event

One woman attending the Inverness Courier’s Nairn bypass event on Friday night described in stark detail how she could only watch as her 10-year-old daughter came close to being killed on the A96 through the town.

The woman, a Dial-a-bus driver providing services to those who, for mobility and other reasons, cannot access public transport had already described how “about 90 per cent” of her working day - between 7.30am and 6pm - was spent just sitting in traffic in and around Nairn.

She then told of how her daughter had wanted to cross the road to meet her at the town’s bus station.

“She was at the traffic lights and about to cross when this HGV flew through a red light and nearly knocked her over,” she said.

“That would have killed her.

“That’s the reality every day in Nairn.”

Asked to share their experiences of the road with panellists, prime among them Cabinet Secretary for Transport Fiona Hyslop, it chillingly summed up what the people of Nairn have to live with in having a trunk road cut directly through the heart of their community - congestion, terrifying near misses and a constant sense of fear whenever they have to use the route.

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Highlighting another issue - that of pollution - another audience member said: “My biggest concern is not for me, it’s for my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren, who attend Rosebank Primary School.”

He worried about the impact of traffic fumes, with the school playground directly adjacent to the busy route.

He also described how traffic lights in the vicinity did not match in terms of sequencing with other lights in the town, exacerbating the issue of congestion.

“It’s just a mess,” he said. “It should be fixed right now.”

While the main aim of the evening was to pin down the government and transport officials on when a bypass might be implemented, being realistic about how long that could take discussion also turned to measures that might be implemented in the shorter term to alleviate some of the problems being highlighted.

Ms Hyslop said: “In terms of the issues raised, particularly around traffic lights in Nairn, that has to be sorted out - that is a ‘today’ issue.”

She said she would speak to road maintenance and management body BEAR Scotland.

The meeting also heard from Dougie Fraser, a member of Cawdor and West Nairnshire Community Council, who described the impact of the well-known rat run used by drivers keen to avoid the A96 as far as possible.

Using the B9006, B9001, B9090 and B9101, joining the A96 at Auldearn, he said: “This route is plagued with speeding motorists causing numerous road closures created by head on collisions and vehicles going off the road.

“There have been fatalities and serious injuries calling on the overstretched police and emergency services.”

He said a speed survey carried out by the community council on the B9090 through Cawdor last year had detected three quarters of vehicles speeding every day - some travelling at 60mph in what is a 30mph limit.

“Does the SNP government not take into consideration the dangerous chaos it has inflicted on the rural communities by refusing to abide by their promise to dual the A96 and build the Nairn Bypass?” he asked.

Keen to impress that she was there to take on board everything that residents had to say and to see what could be done in the short term - having already raised the possibility, without making any promises, that the Nairn Bypass could be detached from the wider A96 dualling project and achieved more quickly - Ms Hyslop said the speeding survey “could form part of discussions of the order of work” as well as informing interim measures.

“I will ask Transport Scotland to build that in, in terms of what happens first in terms of that work,” she said.

Another member of the public said: “These roads are not fit for purpose; they’re not safe.”

They suggested that Highland Council could perhaps be given some of the money devoted for the dualling/ bypass work to address issues at a more local level.

Also hearing about who many of the rat run roads are plagued with “unsuitable” vehicles, including lorries and large tour buses, Ms Hyslop said there could be discussions to be had with firms about putting “blockers” in place that would stop their vehicles using such routes.

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