Council says "Sorry" after roadworks hitch brings motoring misery to Inverness commuters

HIGHLAND council and contractors have apologised to motorists after chaos ensued when overnight roadworks on the A82 at Inverness were not completed in time for the morning rush.

There were also "issues" with inadequate diversion signs and lack of information to motorists when things went wrong the council admitted.

Traffic heading in from Loch Ness on the busy trunk route was forced to divert via Charleston then back into town via Telford Street and Kenneth Street which quickly became gridlocked, along with Glenurquhart Road.

Meanwhile traffic trying to go west was quickly backed up to the city centre making it a nightmare for drivers.

The council said the first planned overnight closure of the A82 near the canal bridge at Tomnahurich, to build the new roundabout for the West Link, commenced at 7pm on Monday night.

The works started as planned with diversions via General Booth Road with the agreement that the A82 would be reopened at 7am this morning, Tue.

A spokeswoman said: "Excavations of the road went well, however problems were encountered with the reconstruction works and the new road construction could not accommodate traffic until around 11am this morning giving rise to severe traffic disruption during the morning peak traffic flows.

"A review was undertaken on site with the Contractor Wills Bros today.

"The discussions included the extent of the construction works, the adequacy of the diversion signing and also providing information to the travelling public when problems were encountered.

"The next planned closure is for Thursday night 27 October, and this will not go ahead until adequate measures have been agreed with the council to ensure that such problems are not encountered in the future.

"The limits of work to be undertaken will be agreed and contingency measures established such that during the night, action can be taken to reopen the road at 7am if problems or delays are encountered."

The spokeswoman added: "Additional diversion signing and traffic management will be agreed to reinforce the diversion route to avoid confusion and also a communication plan will be agreed for the night time closures so that if problems are encountered the information is provided clearly and without any delay."

Council head of infrastructure Colin Howell said: “I want to apologise to the public for the disruption that was encountered this morning. This was clearly unacceptable. Measures will be put in place and agreed to ensure that such issues do not arise again.”

John Stephens, contracts manager for Wills Bros stated: “Problems were encountered last night and it became clear that there were issues about whether the road could be reopened and also the adequacy of the diversion signs.

"The workforce concentrated on trying to open the road to traffic as soon as possible, but this did cause the delays that occurred.

“Wills Bros apologise for the disruption. We are working closely with the council to review works to be undertaken, signing and also publicity.

I think we have learnt an important lesson this morning, and I give an assurance that significant efforts shall be made to ensure that this does not happen. I am confident that measures can be agreed such that the important night-time closure planned for this Thursday can progress with the agreement of the council.”

Some drivers went to social media to vent their anger and frustration.

Peter McCabe posted: "Traffic management Inverness. What a shambles, Absolute disgrace."

And he claimed: "The shambles at Glenurquhart Road is the council’s problem due to refusing to give notice to what will be going on."

Wendy Macintosh said: "Just arrived home after a failed attempt to get into town. The Tomnahurich Bridge is shut. Traffic queues up Charleston taking 40 mins to get to Muirtown basin."

Libby Leslie posted: "Omg allow extra time on your journey to work General Booth Road / King Brude Road nose to tail because road works at Tomnahurich Bridge not finished at 7am as expected."

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.