Works to repaint double yellow lines on Marine Road in Nairn take more than a year to complete
A delay of more than a year in repainting double yellow lines on a residential street has renewed concerns about safety among residents.
Works to resurface Marine Road in Nairn were carried out in July last year, but road markings to signpost stretches where parking is not allowed were not reintroduced until last week - and then only partially.
With some drivers parking on stretches of the road which are narrow or offer poor visibility, as well as the road being a popular “rat-run” to avoid the A96 bottleneck, people living in the area say they are worried about safety.
One local resident said: ”It’s just an accident waiting to happen.
“From where I live, to get onto Marine Road I have to turn out left which is dangerous in any way because it’s a blind corner, but when cars are parked there you have other cars overtaking them and you could have a head-on collision straight away.
“There are just so many risks
“Most of the time cars don’t park there, and residents know they are not supposed to. But it’s the holiday season and tourists won’t know that they shouldn’t really park there. As there are no yellow lines, why wouldn’t you?”
Another resident, Sharon Butler, said: “The problems on Marine Road are only compounding an already difficult situation.
“The heart of the problem is the lack of a bypass for Nairn, which means that this becomes a very busy route. People drive down Sandown Lane and through Thurlow Road to get to Marine Road and the roundabout on the A96 to avoid all the traffic lights through town.
“If you live on any of the surrounding streets, you have to use Marine Road to get in and out, and you are just met with busy traffic a lot of the time, and it can feel quite unsafe, whether you are a driver, a pedestrian or cyclist. Considering the proximity of the play areas in the park, it feels like it should be a priority.”
She believes that further traffic calming measures are needed to tackle people speeding through the residential roads trying to get away from the A96 traffic.
The road, which was included in Highland Council’s 20mph scheme, is adjacent to the Links and close to many popular amenities such as the leisure centre, playgrounds and cafes.
The fact that there are now less than three weeks to go to this year’s Nairn Games, which always brings a large number of visitors to the town, has further raised concerns.
Councillor Paul Oldham said he has been repeatedly pressing the council to get the necessary work done in the past months,
“Sadly the saga of the missing double yellow lines in Marine Road continues,” he said. “After I last wrote about it we did get a date agreed to paint the lines. They started, and then stopped because it was too dangerous with too many cars (allegedly avoiding the queues on the A96) speeding down there.
“They resumed on Tuesday [last week], with traffic control in place, but only succeeded in doing part of it. The section east of Royal Marine Apartments, ie the road alongside the Links, has still not been painted and we still have cones in place.”
He was told this was due to “technical difficulties” and the painting will be concluded on August 10, just a week before the Highland Games are due to be staged.
A Highland Council spokesperson said: “The Council has experienced difficulty in sourcing available contractors to undertake the double yellow lining required on Marine Road, Nairn which has resulted on numerous occasions with failed start of works.
“Having secured a contractor recently, the works were unable to be completed with approximately half of the road finished. The Council hopes to secure another start of works in August. While the Council and its contractors have had concerns about road safety and speeding – speeding enforcement is a matter for Police Scotland.”
