‘Link road may lead to more congestion’
Forecasts show traffic could get even worse
Critics of the council’s proposed Cross Tay Link Road have warned city officials touting the scheme they cannot “build their way out of congestion”.
The warning comes after it emerged further costly roadbuilding projects are being lined up to start once the controversial £117m crossing is completed.
The local authority has long held the view that less traffic will pass through Perth when the road is built as it will provide a link between the A9 and A93 and A94 north of Scone.
Officials say this will lead to less congestion in the city and improve air quality in areas where levels of nitrogen dioxide are known to have exceeded national guidelines for the last 14 years.
But a spokesperson admitted this week that major improvements will also need to be made at both the city’s busiest roundabouts to stop congestion getting significantly worse at these junctions over the coming years as well.
The spokesperson made the admission after traffic forecasts obtained by a local objector to the CTLR project showed officials reckon thousands more people will be driving up and down the A9 every day in just three years time.
The forecasts, seen by the PA, suggests the west approach to the Inveralmond roundabout will see 34,452 vehicle movements every day by 2023 with the CTLR in place and its north approach will see 33,994 4736 and 6508 more movements than are expected to occur on these approaches if the CTLR is not built by 2023 respectively.
And the picture gets much worse by 2038 when PKC predicts the west approach will see 44,060 vehicle movements every day and the north approach will see 48,780 with the CTLR - 9121 and 18,523 more than if the CTLR is not built by the same year.
The forecasts also show officials expect traffic to get worse on the A93 and the A94 north of the CTLR the first year it opens with 7073 vehicle movements on the A93 every day and 9063 on the A94 - 2395 and 957 more than without the CTLR.
Asked why the forecasts had predicted traffic to get worse along the above routes with the CTLR in place, a council spokesperson said: “Currently two of the main traffic routes around Perth (A9/M90 and A93/ A94) require motorists to travel through the city centre, adding congestion in Atholl Street/ Bridgend and Scone.
“Once the CTLR is open, motorists will have the option to avoid travelling through the city centre by using the new route.
“As such is anticipated there will be an increase in traffic on some routes (A93/ A94) during peak times and a significant reduction in the areas currently experiencing problems. Measures to mitigate potential changes in traffic are currently being brought forward by the council. We are also working closely with Transport Scotland to identify improvements that could be made to the Inveralmond and Broxden roundabout junctions to ensure that there is a holistic approach to the traffic problems around Perth.”
But Felicity Graham, one of a group of 45 residents who filed objections to the CTLR being built, remarked: “The idea that the CTLR will reduce city centre traffic is an easy catchphrase, largely misunderstood by those using it.
“Better, cheaper sustainable transport (bus, bike and train) and incentives to use it such as a Low Emission Zone, will reduce city centre traffic, nothing else. If the council was serious about reducing city centre traffic they would be addressing the issue of how inhabitants of new housing developments around Perth, especially Scone North and Bertha Park - which has unfortunately been designed as car-dependent - are going to get into Perth without increasing congestion.”
And Roger Humphry of the Perth and Kinross branch of the Scottish Green Party, who obtained the traffic forecasts using Freedom of Information legislation, remarked: “As ever, the council’s comments imply they still believe they can build their way out of congestion.
“PKC have strongly advocated the CTLR because of the development opportunities to the north of Perth and that is probably their main motivation.”