Idea could bring relief to Queen Street
Proposals to ease traffic congestion on Queen Street in Coupar Angus were presented to members of the public at the most recent meeting of Coupar Angus and Bendochy Community Council, held on Monday in the Talbot Hall.
Locals and campaigners have been calling for action to be taken at the junction of the A923 and the A94 for several years, pointing out the dangers from large farm vehicles and lorries that struggle to get along the road and often mount the pavement to pass other vehicles.
As well as the potential threat to pedestrians using the pavements along the road, residents have also complained that their properties are being damaged by the heavy vehicles, with cracks appearing in their walls.
Speaking at the meeting, Perth and Kinross Council roads officer Chic Haggart agreed that there was a problem, commenting that the “footpaths vary between narrow and horrendously narrow” but adding that there was “only so much we can to the upcoming 30mph limit were discounted on the grounds that the visibility along the Forfar Road is considered “too good”.
Chic Haggart, the council officer at the meeting, said: “These are proposals that we think can assist in helping drivers and manage the traffic following concerns that have been raised that some motorists are not obeying the 30mph speed limit.”
He added: “We want to get the message through that drivers are entering a town and need to drive accordingly and we are happy to take on board feedback.”
Mr Haggart said the road safety team was going to carry out an audit of the whole area and that they had “no firm proposals at the moment” but that may change following feedback from the community and the results of the audit.
He added:“We will implement these measures with the blessing of the community and then survey the results and compare them with the survey results we have from before any measures were introduced.
“If there has not been a change then do in that limited space”.
The suggestion put forward on Monday evening was to create a priority give-way system on the road, widening the pathway on the steeple side of the road and narrowing the carriageway.
The proposed build-out would be around 20 metres along Queen Street from the traffic lights.
Mr Haggart said: “It’s not a complex arrangement and we have identified funding for this so we are ready to go as soon as we get feedback from the council.”
It was suggested at the meeting that the build-out could go on the other side of the street from the steeple, which local people say is used more often as there are more houses.
Admitting that the proposals would not be able to solve all of the problems but could alleviate the pressure on the “pinch point”, Mr Haggart agreed to look at the practicalities of having the buildout on the residential side of the road and that he would come back to the next community council with revised proposals. we will revisit the situation and see what else we can do to get the solution we are all looking for.”
However, locals at the meeting said that they felt the 30mph limit on Forfar Road should be reduced to a 20mph limit .
Sara Edwards said: “The school uses Larghan Park as an extension of the school so would it not make sense to have a 20-mile-an-hour limit there all the time?”
Commenting on the new council strategy regarding the implementation of 20mph limits in Perth and Kinross, Mr Haggart said: “It is my responsibility to take into consideration any request we get for a 20mph limit.
“The road safety team then presents a report to elected members of the council’s enterprise and infrastructure team who will make a decision on any request.”
Coupar Angus resident Jimmy Harris suggested that more street lighting be installed along the Forfar Road to improve visibility and highlight that it is a residential area.
He also suggested using red tarmac on the road to emphasise the speed