TRAFFIC CHECK ACTION CALL
Spate of incidents spark safety fears
Local councillors have called for a traffic assessment to be carried out in Blairgowrie and Rattray following a spate of incidents in the town in recent months. The move came to light at the most recent meeting of Blairgowrie and Rattray Community Council, held in Rattray on Thursday last week.
The issue of road safety was raised by several members of the public at the meeting who voiced concerns about speeding vehicles in different parts of the town.
Concerns about the increase in traffic due to the significant number of proposed housing developments in the town were also raised.
One member of the public commented: “Cars are travelling much too fast along Elm Drive by the community campus, it’s an accident waiting to happen.
“The signage along there is almost non-existent and could be re-done if nothing else. A digital sign highlighting vehicles’ speed would probably slow people down.”
And another member of the public added: “I live on Rattray High Street and when I learned of the plan to develop 217 houses in Rattray I was concerned how the people who reside there are going to get safely down in to Blairgowrie. Look at how difficult it is to navigate the junction of Balmoral Road and the High Street or by the chip shop.
“The infrastructure in this whole town was not built for modern vehicles.
“Speeding vehicles go through Rattray High Street every night of the week and at the weekends, I hear the cars race past my house. There was an accident on the other side of the road recently which wasn’t even reported. The one before that was by Forebank Road - if anyone had been walking on the pavement when that happened they would have been killed - but I don’t see anything being done about it.”
Conservative councillor for the Blairgowrie and Glens ward, Caroline Shiers, said that she met with roads officers at Perth and Kinross Council on Monday of this week and had asked for a traffic assessment to be carried out.
She said: “We have compiled an up-todate list of all of the various outstanding road safety, parking and roads issues in and around the town. I am very conscious of the issues which are outstanding and require to be addressed and for timescales to be laid down.
“High up on the list is having vehicle-activated signage and various pedestrian improvements in the Wellmeadow, and addressing parking issues around the campus and Rattray Primary School.
“I also outlined my concerns to council officers about the knock-on effect of increased traffic at the housing development at Glenalmond Road in Rattray. I will report back to the community council at their October meeting.”
Blairgowrie-based Police Scotland Inspector Gordon Thomson said: “We have dedicated patrols to deal with speeding vehicles and road traffic issues are always high on the agenda.
“Police Scotland does not have the resources to be everywhere and it is a matter of educating the public about the dangers of speeding but where we get the heads-up on areas of concern - such as Elm Drive for example - we’re doing what we can and giving attention to it.
“The issues in Rattray are more difficult to address as we could cause an obstruction on the road but we will see what can be done.”