Planned link road at the mercy of elements

Dear Editor Stirling Council should be commended for looking to the future and proposing many significant improvements for active travel, not least on the south side of the city.

However one element of the package of proposals gives me deep concern for the safety of pedestrians and cyclists. Plans for the Viewforth Link Road were developed more than a decade ago, since when the effects of climate change have become far more evident. For example, in the early evening of December 12, 2017, after a fine but bitterly cold day, rain fell on freezing road and pavement surfaces in Stirling, suddenly causing widespread black ice and leading to many accidents through slips and skidding.

The proposed Viewforth Link Road from St. Ninians Road would pass steeply down to Linden Roundabout and be used by all types of traffic, including heavy traffic such as bin lorries heading for Polmaise.

The road would be in a steep cutting, enclosed by walls and likely to be in near continuous shade in wintertime. This would make it particularly likely to icing-up earlier and quicker than other, open road surfaces.

The council proposes to incorporate a pedestrian/cycleway immediately adjacent to roadway, as a traffic-calming measure to encourage safe driving up and in particular down the link road.

I have fundamental reservations on this strategy as I feel it unlikely to deter irresponsible drivers from taking risks. Of even more concern, it offers no protection to pedestrians and cyclists from vehicles out of control from, for example, ice on the road.

They would be trapped within the enclosed roadway by the surrounding retaining walls, and have no means of escape from skidding cars or lorries.

The current link road pathway proposals should be subject to a full, updated and independent safety assessment.

This should also consider safer arrangements, including segregated cycleways which would ensure that the risks to all road and path users are as low as reasonably practicable. This should include a pedestrian/ cycle path which is fully segregated from any roadway, in line with modern good practice.

Michael Adam By email