Road campaigners’ joy
Safety improvements at Benderloch are to go ahead, much to the delight of parents in the village.
Road safety improvements are to finally go ahead in Benderloch, much to the joy of campaigners who say it has been ‘a long slog’ to victory, writes Kathie Griffiths.
Work will hopefully start in April in a bid to slow down dangerous drivers who speed through the gateway to the village and past Lochnell Primary School on the A828, putting lives at risk.
BEAR Scotland has now had the safety measures passed by planners and is just waiting for its operations team to make a start. A wider footpath is among plans for the safer route.
School mum Dr Beth Hadden, one of the leaders of the Keep Our Kids Safe on the A828 campaign, said Covid had caused delays but ‘fingers crossed’ work should start this spring.
‘The road markings are likely to be implemented first, followed by the signs and improvements to the footpaths. Hopefully work will begin in
April – it’s a bit weather dependent, but fingers crossed.
‘It will be excellent to have these things in place to improve the safety of everyone who uses that stretch of road and hopefully reduce speeds through the village in general – especially as larger numbers of children will be returning to school after time away.
‘It has really been a long slog and a lot of hard work getting us to this point.
‘It’s the community that has pushed this forward. We’ve also got commitment that once work is done to make the gateway to the village more visible, if speeds still remain high they will look at other measures to slow them down.’
Traffic speeding into the north end of Benderloch is a historic problem, but after a four-year-old boy only escaped from being hit by a car by an inch in September 2018, the campaign to make the road safer was stepped up.
In June 2019, campaigners received a commitment from Transport Scotland that it would help get their children to school safer and in November that year BEAR Scotland came back with improvement ideas for the risk area, asking for people’s views and comments.
A previous campaign-led online survey of residents and road users views on the A828 attracted hundreds of responses. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was among those lobbied for action, along with transport agencies, the police, Argyll and Bute Council and Ardchattan
Community Council. Argyll and Bute councillor Elaine Robertson said: ‘I’m absolutely delighted to hear work is about to start to make that route safer.
‘It’s been a long time coming. I’d also like to thank the transport agencies for their co-operation.’
Fellow councillor Kieron Green added: ‘I hope this will all have a significant effect in making the environment safer for children and for others. It’s welcome news.’
Ardchattan community councillor Breege Smyth said: ‘I’m so pleased for the campaigners that they’ve got good results. They have been dedicated all this time and it’s paid off. It’s well deserved.’
A spokesperson for BEAR Scotland confirmed the first phase of the project was expected to begin at the end of next month, beginning with improvements to road markings on the approach to the village from the north and in the village close to Lochnell Primary School.
The spokesperson continued: ‘Teams will then return later in the year to widen the footway opposite the school, as well as construct a connecting footpath to the community car park. Enhanced signs will also be installed to raise road users’ awareness of its location. All works will be programmed to avoid start and finishing times of the school to help minimise disruption.
‘Lining improvements are expected to begin at the end of April and will take around five days subject to weather conditions.’