Distancing measures in towns welcomed
Work has started on a range of measures aimed at helping people maintain social distancing in east Perthshire as coronavirus pandemic restrictions are gradually eased.
Perth and Kinross Council successfully bid for £1.1 million from the Scottish Government’s Spaces for People Fund, administered by Sustrans, for a number of initiatives across the region.
Part of this includes creating one-way pedestrian areas at various ‘pinch points.’
The system is for narrow footpaths which could make it difficult for pedestrians to move around while maintaining a social distance of two metres.
Work has started on sites such as the Ericht Bridge between Blairgowrie and Rattray.
Other streets in the town affected include the High Street, Allan Street, Reform Street, the Wellmeadow, Gas Brae and Commercial Street.
Also covered within the bid was additional signage and road markings, removal and/or relocation of unnecessary street furniture, the introduction of reduced speed limits, the provision of temporary cycle lanes and cycle segregation, footway widening and extra pedestrian space, additional school exclusion zones, alterations to pedestrian crossing operations, and temporary or floating bus stops.
A programme of work to automate traffic signal and pedestrian crossing push buttons throughout the local area, which aims to reduce the risk of crosscontamination and improve pedestrian priority, has also taken place.
Traffic signal junctions have been set with an automatic pedestrian phase, while standalone pedestrian crossings such as those in Blairgowrie use detectors to identify when someone is waiting to cross and activate a crossing period for them.
This means that pedestrians will not need to push a button and will instead only have to wait for the green man to appear.
Local resident and a member of
Blairgowrie and Rattray Community Council, Sandy Thomson, is a long-term campaigner in relation to the town’s controversial traffic lights.
He said: “Having been part of the community council group that, along with residents of the town, helped to bring about the removal of the traffic lights and the installation of pedestrian crossings, I continue to monitor them on a regular basis.
“I have also been an advocate of bringing back an audio signal to the pedestrian crossings since this was removed on the grounds that it was considered to be misleading and confusing to pedestrians, and have been approached recently by a couple of locals who regularly use the crossings and were concerned about pressing the crossing request button and the vibrating button below during the during the Covid-19 crisis.
“I was therefore pleased to read in the Blairie that these changes were to be implemented.
“The new system seems to work well in the sense that you do not have to press the button or wait to long to cross.
“The bleep is not too loud and did not seem to be confusing.
“With the notable increase in traffic now plus the higher frequency of pedestrians, the new system is helping to reduce the speed of motorists through the Wellmeadow, which is not a bad thing either.
“However, you do not seem to get long to cross before the lights change again.”
Blairgowrie and the Glens councillor Caroline Shiers has asked council officers for an update on the timesacles involved with implementing all of the measures in Blairgowrie.
She said: “I was in Blair a couple of times last week and it was good to see people around the town and supporting local businesses.
“I also had a chance to look at some of the measures now in place.
“I guess all of these just serve to remind us that social distancing is important for the foreseeable future.
“I chatted with a few businesses about the proposals still to be put in place and will do that again over the coming weeks as they will be the ones who will see if the measures in place are useful or if there would be better ways to do things.
“There are a few points, such as on the High Street and at the chemists and banks, where there seem to be regular queues so it is especially important people can queue and others can pass.
“I have sought clarification from PKC regarding review periods and that views from the community and businesses will be taken into consideration.”