Safety concerns as new town cycleway begins to take shape
Works to create a new cycleway and improve pavements between Campbeltown Hospital and Campbeltown Grammar School are under way – but one South Kintyre councillor has safety concerns about the route.
In 2020, it was announced that Argyll and Bute Council had secured money from the Scottish Government’s £38 million Spaces for People initiative which was to be used to make it easier for people to move around town centres safely during the Covid pandemic.
According to the council, a consultation identified that Campbeltown’s town centre already had sufficient space for physical distancing, and maintaining all existing car parking spaces was seen as a priority, so the decision was made to carry out the works on Ralston Road instead.
The news was welcomed by then South Kintyre councillors John Armour and Rory Colville, who “pushed hard” for that option during the consultation process, believing the pavement in that area was too narrow, causing problems for large numbers of pupils travelling to and from school.
However, ward colleague Donald Kelly was critical of the decision, believing the money would have been better spent making “much-needed improvements” to pavements in the town centre, including installing drop kerbs to improve disabled access.
Now the construction work is in progress, Councillor Kelly is becoming “more and more concerned” for the safety of potential users, with people being “actively encouraged” to walk and cycle in an area with a high volume of traffic.
He is also calling for a reduced speed limit to be introduced in the area: “Ralston Road was one of the areas of Campbeltown which triggered the criteria for the mandatory 20mph speed restrictions after speed/volume tests were carried out by the council, subject to a report which was unanimously supported by the Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the
Islands area committee.”
He added: “It is public knowledge that I have not supported this project in this location from the outset. While I fully appreciate that this is ringfenced money being provided by the Scottish Government, I feel it could have and should have been better utilised.
“In my opinion, this cycle track could not have been installed at a worse location and is in an area which is one of the busiest in the town in terms of traffic flow.
“I think it is irresponsible to encourage children into this area to cycle and this, in my opinion, is a potential accident waiting to happen.
“With this in mind, it is imperative that the council makes the area as safe as possible. A mandatory 20mph speed restriction must be implemented as per my motion to the area committee last year, which was unanimously supported by all councillors, but has so far been ignored by the council officers.
“At the very least, this would help to make this debacle a little bit safer.”
Councillor Kelly is also calling for a traffic-calming nib on Meadows Avenue, allowing a safe access point for visitors to Meadows Play Park, which has been removed during the works, to be reinstated.
An Argyll and Bute Council spokesperson told the Courier the improvement works “focus on safety”, adding: “This includes moving the pedestrian crossing and creating a new path to the play park, making it easier and safer for people to access facilities. We have temporarily moved the traffic-calming nib to allow the works to progress. Once complete, we will reinstate it.”
The spokesperson added: “As part of the Scottish Government’s consultation on 20mph and 30mph speed restrictions, we are finalising our submission. This details all current 20mph and 30mph speed restrictions across Argyll and Bute.
“The Scottish Government will review feedback from all local roads authorities and advise on next steps to introduce 20mph limits where appropriate.”
‘I think it is irresponsible to encourage children into this area to cycle and this, in my opinion, is a potential accident waiting to happen.’