Call for fresh urgency over Crieff road safety improvements

Congestion: Residents condemn problem route

Crieff residents have warned cashstrapped council chiefs they could be gambling with the town’s safety if they look to penny-pinch over road improvements.

The community has been calling for changes to busy Broich Road for many years but has only a line of plastic bollards to show for it.

Campaigners fear Perth and Kinross Council is holding out for developer contributions – linked to a variety of retail proposals – before taking action.

They believe the resolution of a court case into an accident that almost cost one local woman her life should focus minds on the need for urgency.

Broich Road leads to three schools, factories, industrial premises and farms, a Tayside Contracts yard, the Perth and Kinross Council tip and a fire station.

Yet it is narrow and congested at peak times, provides parking for school buses and has problem junctions, such as that with King Street.

Numerous supermarkets have also sought to move in, with varying degrees of planning permission in place for two sites.

With their progression repeatedly

The current safety measures at the junction of Broich Road with King Street – three small plastic bollards – are insufficient. CAMPAIGNER CRAIG FINDLAY

delayed, campaigner and former Crieff Community Council chairman Craig Findlay believes the improvements cannot wait for one to come to fruition.

“Following the recent court case against the driver of a bus which pinned a Crieff lady to a wall on Broich Road, we have now learned that this driver did not intentionally mount the pavement, but rather the wheels ascended the kerb due to the traction of the vehicle,” he said.

“The driver highlighted the reason for driving so close to the kerb as being the parking of vehicles on the opposite side of the road.

“I assume the vehicles included school minibuses for St Dominic’s Primary School pupils as this is the area of their designated bus parking.

“In my view, the current safety measures at the junction of Broich Road with King Street – three small plastic bollards – are insufficient to prevent another accident.

“Aside from the plastic bollards, Perth and Kinross Council’s roads department agreed in early January this year to have plans drawn up to widen the extremely narrow junction in this area.

“Almost nine months on, nothing further has been heard.”

Mr Findlay said consideration should be given to changing the junction at Broich Road and King Street to make the former easier to access.

Proposals have included the formation of a new roundabout and the introduction of traffic lights.

Resident and former community council chairman Craig Findlay next to the junction and bollards on Broich Road.