Inverness West Link – three further options to be analysed
The Highland Council, in developing its proposals for a crossing of the River Ness and Caledonian Canal to the west of Inverness, previously sought the public’s views on five alignments which had evolved through discussions with key stakeholders.
These five options were widely publicised as part of a public consultation exercise at the turn of the year. As a result of this consultation, responses have now been assessed and the outcome of this public consultation will be incorporated within the next stage of the project.
The next stage of the project (Stage II) involves a detailed appraisal of the options carried out in accordance with standard design methodology. The options to be assessed will include the original 5 options.
Three additional options which have emerged during the public consultation will also be included in the options appraisal.
Two of these additional options are known to present major difficulties in terms of the serious environmental concerns from statutory bodies and the engineering complexity of the options. However, as these have been raised during the consultation they will be examined alongside the five options which went out for consultation.
These additional options are the construction of an Aqueduct/Tunnel for crossing the Caledonian Canal and a direct route from the Dores Road Roundabout to the A82 south of Inverness, which crosses the River Ness and the canal via a high level viaduct.
In addition, the Council will consider a variation on Option 1, which provides
a tandem canal/bridge solution at Torvean. Option 1 follows the edge of the canal embankment and crosses the river in open ground in the vicinity of the woollen mills with a direct link onto Dores Road. The variation incorporates a River Bank route to the Dores Road Roundabout instead of the more direct link from the south side of River Ness to Dores Road.
All 8 options will now be assessed through the options appraisal methodology.
The options appraisal will include an assessment of each option under the following headings:
• Environmental Impact
• Accessibility (connectivity to leisure and local businesses)
• Integration (land use and public transport)
• Safety
• Economy (cost benefit, works cost and efficiency of network)
• Other ( flooding, disruption and impact on local road, maintenance etc)
It is anticipated the outcome of the options appraisal will be complete in late summer and this will be reported to the key stakeholders before going out to the public for their views on the outcome of the appraisal analysis. The key stakeholders include officials from Transport Scotland, British Waterways, SEPA, Historic Scotland and SNH as well as officials and Leaders of the Council.
Councillor John Laing, Chairman of The Highland Council’s Transport, Environmental and Community Services, said: “It is important that the views of the public expressed during the consultation are fully taken into account and that all 8 alternative layouts are fully assessed on the same basis. The project is extremely complex and an analysis of all the factors to provide objective data is essential for strategic decision making in taking the project forward.”
Provost Jimmy Gray, Chairman of the Council’s Inverness City Committee, said: “This a hugely important project for Inverness and the wider Highlands. It is vital that we take time to properly determine the optimum solution for Inverness City and I am delighted to see this project included in the Council’s Capital Programme. I look forward to outcome of the options appraisal.”
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