Campaigners demand action on Fort William traffic chaos
TWO LOCHABER men are calling for action on the A82 as Fort William endures another gridlocked summer.
Frustrated by the lack of response from local and national authorities to traffic congestion in Lochaber, Elliot Brown and Mike MacGruer launched two separate petitions this week – amassing more than 2,000 signatures between them – in an bid to bring about change.
Buoyed by public support, the pair have now joined forces and are calling on the Scottish Government, Transport Scotland and the Highland Council to take action and upgrade Lochaber roads.
The high volume of traffic in the town this summer has meant that three-mile south-bound journeys through the town have sometimes taken up to an hour.
‘The petition arose,’ Elliot explained, ‘after experiencing the issues myself and reading countless posts on Facebook about the state of the traffic and calling for someone to do something. So I thought I'd start the petition. It has taken off, with more than 1,600 signatures already. Support has come in from not just Fort William but Skye, Inverness and many surrounding areas.’
Mike MacGruer, whose original petition was aimed at the Scottish Government, says he is delighted with the response from the public so far and hopes it continues. He said: ‘Hopefully this support can be sustained with action taken and decisions made by the Scottish Government for both the short term and for the future. The town is going to suffer financially if commerce and tourists cannot move freely and our emergency services are not able to respond as quickly as they would like, which could ultimately lead to the loss of life.’
The pair met with Lochaber MSP Kate Forbes this week to discuss potential solutions to the
It is an absolute joke and completely unacceptable to spend 30 minutes travelling under a mile into town Kate Forbes
traffic problems. In a joint statement released after Tuesday’s meeting with Miss Forbes, Elliot and Mike said: ‘Together we’ve drawn up a number of points to proceed on and a solid plan to go forward. We will continue to maximise the petition and encourage anyone who hasn’t yet signed it to do so.
‘We discussed some lower cost, quick solutions to speed up traffic like cutting back foliage and improving signs. We will not give up until we see progress.’ Kate Forbes told the Lochaber
Times: ‘I was pleased to meet with Elliott and Mike to discuss their concerns and the petition. Spending a lot of time in Fort William this summer, I am fully aware of the congestion through the town.
‘It is an absolute joke and completely unacceptable to spend 30 minutes travelling under a mile into town. Bluntly, a town cannot operate with this level of congestion. It restricts all movement and means people think twice about travelling during the summer.’
With the number of tourists visiting Lochaber increasing each summer, many feel the traffic problems could affect tourists’ experience when visiting the area.
When asked about the impact on tourism, Chris Taylor, a director at Visit Scotland, said: ‘ We appreciate that for residents and for other visitors, it is frustrating when journeys take a bit longer during the peak summer months when visitor numbers increase. However, looking more broadly and in terms of the local visitor economy, this is a positive sign the area is thriving and visitors want to come, spend time here and visit local attractions.’
Mr Taylor continued: ‘Our research also showed that overall visitor satisfaction, which includes scores for ‘ease of getting around’, is extremely high.’