Contractor appointed for city centre junction improvements

The Highland Council is writing to residents and businesses in the city centre to advise them that they have awarded a £262k contract to Coffey Construction Ltd to carry out improvements to the Young Street / Huntly Street road junction.

The letter explains that the proposed works will tie together the streetscaping of Ness Walk and Huntly Street across Ness Bridge, where a new Toucan crossing will be installed to provide safe, easy access across the bridge for pedestrians and cyclists.

The works will also formalise, through new kerb layouts, the amended Traffic Orders which were approved by the City of Inverness and Area Committee in December 2014. On completion of the works, the left turn from Huntly Street onto the bridge will not be possible, and a coordinated signalised junction will optimise traffic movements through the town. In addition, the bridge expansion joint on the western abutment of Ness Bridge will be replaced as this has begun to show signs of failure.

Work, which will start on Thursday 10 September, is expected to last approximately 12 weeks and will be done in stages to keep disruption to a minimum.Access across Ness Bridge will be maintained in both directions at all times, though this will require partial lane closures to accommodate working areas.

A council spokesman said: “We appreciate these works come after the completion of the River Ness Flood Scheme and apologise for any disruption that may be caused, but unfortunately the need to repair the expansion joint as soon as possible is unavoidable. While this work is underway we are taking the opportunity to improve the safety of pedestrians wishing to cross the bridge and formalise the left turn ban for traffic exiting Huntly Street onto Ness Bridge through new kerb layouts.”