The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Junction on list of worst blackspots for bike crashes
Road the scene of five cycling collisions between 2005 and 2014
A junction in Inverness has been named as one of the worst cycling collision blackspots in Scotland.
The study by sustainable transport campaigners Sustrans Scotland found the Tower Road junction with the B9006 Culloden road to be in the 20 worst crash sites.
It said the junction had been the scene of five collisions between 2005 and 2014, and ranked it as the 18th in the “hotspots” chart.
They put together the list of locations by looking at areas which had a relatively high number of collisions compared to the amount of cycling activity in the period.
Sustrans Scotland is calling for improved cycling infrastructure at junctions, after the research revealed that roundabouts and T-junctions are the main hotspots.
Out of the 20 locations, the research found that 19 of the incidents occurred at a junction or within 65ft of one.
Roundabouts appeared frequently, in eight of the 20 hotspot locations, while seven of the locations were at T or staggered junctions.
The findings, published by Sustrans’ Scottish Research Programme, will be presented at the conference in Glasgow on Wednesday.
Smithton and Culloden Community Council chairman David McGrath said: “It doesn’t surprise me to be honest. It’s a busy road.
“A lot of traffic goes up that road, commuter traffic, and quite a lot of people use it in the mornings to avoid the traffic on the A96.
“It’s not a good junction in some ways. For a start that particular road is used a lot by cyclists as a training route as it’s quite a long climb.
“The other thing is that in the middle of winter it’s a bad place that junction. The sun is very low and you could be blinded at that junction.”
John Lauder, Sustrans Scotland national director, said: “Safety is often cited as the main reason why people don’t cycle for more of the journeys they make every day.
“This research highlights the importance of having high-quality cycling infrastructure in place at junctions, so that collisions can be prevented.
“We know that better cycle infrastructure increases the feeling of safety and ultimately the number of people on bikes.
“Put quite simply – the more people in a place who cycle, the safer it becomes for everyone.”