Go-ahead for £1.8m cycle lane contract

The contract to build a £1.8 million twoway cycle lane and footpath on Broughty Ferry Esplanade has been approved by Dundee City Council.

The work will see the pavement upgraded from Castle Lane to Bridge Street.

The contract was awarded to city-based Tayside Contracts, which is scheduled to start work in August with completion expected early next year.

The project is part of the £9.3m Broughty Ferry Active Travel scheme.

It is funded by Transport Scotland to promote “new, innovative and popular infrastructure which encourages walking and cycling”.

The project is administered by Sustrans Scotland.

The work was approved by the city’s development committee.

Speaking at the meeting, Councillor Lynne Short said: “There’s a lot of investment here looking at the future... looking at reduction of our carbon footprint.

“It isn’t just what we have in the way of buildings across the city, but how we can influence and have an effect on the way they travel across the city, so well done everybody.”

Concerns had previously been voiced by residents about the effect on traffic flow within Broughty Ferry which consists of streets which were constructed in the 19th Century.

Committee convener Mark Flynn said: “In the face of the climate emergency it is not acceptable to just keep on doing the same things and expecting a different outcome.

“That is why this work, and more like it, is proposed to deliver the council’s climate action plan in support of reduced greenhouse gas emissions and the implementation of clean and green energy and transport solutions.”

Another section of the cycleway, at Castle Green Park and Windmill Gardens, near Broughty Castle, has been held up due to a planning wrangle.

Plans to shut Mill Street, a one-way route next to the Esplanade car park, have been met with anger from some locals who feel their objections have fallen on deaf ears.

It is now in the hands of the Scottish Government, with a planning reporter expected to rule soon on whether the plan can go ahead.

RESTRICTED: Part of the Esplanade in Broughty Ferry is already closed off to traffic.