The Inverness West Link

1st public consultation

We examined several options for completing the section of road between the Dores Roundabout and the A82 at Torvean. A series of public meetings and exhibitions were held in the city at the various locations during December 2010.

More than 600 responses were received.

You can read the public presentation from this meeting which includes diagrammatic drawings of the options above.

Road Network for West Link: 5 options

Option 1 –  Crosses the River Ness at the open ground between Pringles Woollen Mill and the Precast Yard. Then onto a roundabout at the western end on the canal fields then follows the embankment of the canal along the edge of the fields to reach Bught Road adjacent to the Queens Park Athletics Track. Thereafter it crosses the canal with a low level canal bridge which will operate in tandem with the existing A82 Tomnahurich canal bridge. This will make sure that one of these bridges will remain open to traffic at all times.

Option 2 – Crosses the River Ness at the open ground between Pringles Woollen Mill and the Precast Yard. Then onto a roundabout at the western end on the canal fields, following the southern edge of the canal fields adjacent to the Weir along the edge of Whin Park to a roundabout on the bend of Bught Road. Thereafter it crosses the rugby ground to a new low level canal swing bridge mid way between the Tomnahurich Canal bridge and the edge of Torvean Quarry. This area is a Special Area of Scientific Interest. It then crosses the Golf course to a new roundabout on the A82 trunk road at General Booth Road

Option 3 – Crosses the River Ness at its narrowest point between Rossie and Heraghty lodges on Dores Road to land on Whin Park. It will cross a new roundabout on Bught Road and then follow Bught Road to another new roundabout adjacent to the Queens Park Athletics Track. Then it will cross the canal with a low level canal bridge which will operate in tandem with the existing A82 Tomnahurich canal bridge. This will ensure that one of these bridges will remain open to traffic at all times.

Option 4 – Crosses the River Ness at its narrowest point between Rossie and Heraghty lodges on Dores Road to land on Whin Park. It will then cross a new roundabout on the bend of Bught Road and then traverse the rugby ground to a new low level canal swing bridge mid way between the Tomnahurich Canal bridge and the edge of Torvean Quarry. This is a Special Area of Scientific Interest . Finally, it will cross the Golf course to another new roundabout on the A82 trunk road at General Booth Road

Option 5 – Crosses the River Ness at its narrowest point between Rossie and Heraghty lodges on Dores Road to land on Whin Park. It will then cross a new roundabout on the bend of Bught Road and pass through the canal parks between the rugby ground and Whin Park. Then it will go on through the middle of the canal parks to cross the canal with a low level Canal Bridge. This is close to the edge of the Torvean Quarry which is a Special Area of Scientific Interest. Finally, it will cross the Golf course to a new roundabout on the A82 trunk road at General Booth Road.