Green light for travel projects
Councillors have approved a raft of active travel projects across the region.
A total of 17 cycling, walking and safer routes projects have been given the go-ahead for 2021/22.
These include dropped kerbs, shared paths and footways with many connecting schools to residential areas.
Perth and Kinross Council’s environment and infrastructure committee also noted projects implemented in the two previous financial years when it met on Wednesday, May 19.
Schemes to be given the go ahead last week include dropped kerbs and tactile paving in Perth, Auchterarder, Blairgowrie/Rattray and Dunkeld.
In Auchterarder, alterations and improvements will be made to existing paths to create a 2.5m wide shared use path linking the core path network.
Footpath and junction realignment will take place near Milnathort Primary while in Perth, £60,000 will be spent on the provision of a 2.5m wide cycle path to connect Lade Cycle Path to Gillespie Crescent and Tulloch Primary School.
A new footway will be created between Wallace Terrace and Tulloch
Terrace in Perth as well as across the frontage of Perth Academy at Viewlands Road and Oakbank Crescent and Fairies Road and Murray Terrace.
A contribution towards the provision of shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians between the A912 Baiglie Straight and Aberargie will also be made.
In Crieff, pedestrian crossing facility improvements will be made at the King Street/Commissioner Street junction and provision will be made for a three metre wide shared use path and continuous footway to connect the supermarket to Crieff Primary School and Strathearn Community Campus.
Provision of a 2.5m wide shared use path to connect residential areas to the primary school will be made in Scone on Spoutwells Place and Stormont Road.
A 2.5m shared use path will also be created at Grandtully Primary School while strip widening of the footway will take place along Station Road from Preston Watson Street and Thieves Walk core path in Errol.
Strathearn Conservative councillor Roz McCall asked why one of the projects - the build out at Crieff ’s King Street/Commissioner Street junction to improve pedestrian crossing facilities had been delayed for so long.
PKC’s traffic and network service manager Brian Cargill said this was a project they had endeavoured to do for two years.
He said there was an issue in previous years with not securing the amount of match funding they would have hoped for, which meant they could not do all their planned projects.
Mr Cargill said someone was actively working on this Crieff project now and added: “That will hopefully be one of the first projects we deliver this year.”
Strathmore Lib Dem councillor Lewis Simspon is PKC’s former active travel ambassador. He asked if there were sufficient staff and resources to implement all the plans.
Mr Cargill said: “It’s no secret that our team is stretched to the max but the team is highly motivated, very much focused on delivering and I think the track record shows we do have a record for delivery.”
The committee’s convener Conservative councillor Angus Forbes said:“I’m a huge fan of walking and cycling. Perhaps if we all walked and cycled more we might actually make a small difference to the climate change agenda and perhaps reduce flooding in the longer term.”