£83 million required to build Inverness trunk link road

Highland Councillors will be asked next week to agree the preferred line of the Inverness trunk link road.

A report being presented to a special meeting of The Highland Council on Thursday 27  September recommends that the preferred road line for the eastern section (A 96 at Smithton to Inshes) includes a new road from  the A96 from Smithton junction to the A9 at Inshes, incorporating a crossing of the railway, with the existing A96 into the city reverting to a distributor road.. The estimated cost is £33 million and the work is timetabled between 2010-2012.

The preferred road line for the western section (Dores Roundabout to the A82 at Torvean) is a bridge over the River Ness and a high level opening bridge – with 15 metre clearance - over the Caledonian Canal. The estimated cost is £50 million and the work is planned to be carried out between 2012 - 2015.

The Council’s capital budget is unable to accommodate the construction costs and the report recommends that the project is submitted to the Scottish Government’s Strategic Transport Projects Review, which considers transport projects to be funded by the Scottish Government.

Detailed design work in relation to the dualling of the middle section of the road, between Inshes and the Dores Road Roundabout, has still to be completed, and there are no cost estimates for completing this section. Work would not begin before 2015.

The report by Neil Gillies, Director of Transport Environment and Community Services, and John Rennilson, Director of Planning and Development, highlights that the trunk link road is the central plank of the transport master plan for Inverness, which will provide additional capacity on the road network to accommodate the future development of the city and its environs.

To the east of Inverness, the directors recognise that the A96, as it approaches Inverness, is reaching capacity, with extensive queuing, and that the Inshes Roundabout is heavily overloaded. The new road would open up access opportunities to land to the south of the Retail and Business Park and create an access opportunity for the proposed UHI campus at Beechwood, which is currently landlocked.

The A96 would therefore be realigned to provide a strategic link from the existing Smithton roundabout to the A9 at Inshes. As well as providing a direct link on to the A9, the TLR will cross the A9 and link into the southern distributor road. As it passes through Inshes Retail Park, the line would be to the north of the park, away from established residential areas. Some demolition would be involved but sufficient land would be kept to retain a District Centre.

To the west, the directors recommend that Dores Road be linked to General Booth Road via a bridge over the River Ness and a high level opening bridge over the Caledonian Canal. They discounted an option to build a bridge over the river and a tunnel/aqueduct passing under the canal due to the inferior road alignment, increased land take,  the high construction costs, and the environmental cost of a 900 metre long cutting and tunnel, including a roundabut close to Whin Park. The cost of the aqueduct/tunnel option is estimated at £85 million compared to £50 million for the preferred option.

The preferred option would see the bridge crossing the canal with a clearance of 15 metres above the water level, with 85% of boats able to pass under the bridge without the need for the bridge to open. Discussions are continuing with British Waterways in relation to the type of bridge and a protocol which will restrict opening times to minimise the delays to road traffic.  Measures will be required to maintain and operate the opening section of the bridge. As part of this option, it is proposed to replace the existing Tomnahurich Swing Bridge with a more modern and efficient structure at a higher clearance to allow smaller vessels pass under without the need to open the bridge.

The cost of completing both the east and western sections is estimated at £83 million.