Committee Updated On Recent Transport Consultations To Modernise And Improve The Local Transport Network

3rd February 2023

At a meeting of The Highland Council's Economy and Infrastructure Committee (Thursday 2 February) members were given an update on the next steps to be taken after an intensive period of public consultations for transport improvement projects, funded by the Scottish Government Bus Partnership Fund.

The report presented to the committee follows on from the well-attended public joint consultation event held in Inverness last month which pulled together three of the four transport improvement studies currently underway.

Chair of the Committee, Cllr Ken Gowans who attended the in-person event at the Spectrum centre said: "It is very important that we capture the ideas and comments from the travelling public so I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who came along as well as everyone who has taken part in the on-line consultations.

“The joint consultation event was very well attended and welcomed by many groups that represent other interests. This demonstrated there's a keen interest in developing our strategic transport solutions in a sustainable way.

“Everyone’s input on how transport links can be upgraded is going to really help us move forward in shaping improvements which will make a difference to the journeys people make in and around the city and Fort William."

The recent consultations included the Millburn Corridor (on-line consultation now closed), Connecting Inverness (on-line consultation now closed) Fort William/Lochaber appraisal which included five in-person events bringing together stakeholders and the public (on-line consultation live until 6 Feb) and the B9006 corridor from the junction at Birchwood Road to the Raigmore Hospital junction on Old Perth Road. This consultation is ongoing with a drop-in event due to take place in March.

All feedback from on-line and in-person events will be fed back into the Strategic Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG) process. Between February and April each project will produce a final report and then the Council will go back to the Scottish Government to request funding to proceed with work on producing an outline design and business case for each of the projects.

Cllr Gowans added: “I know that having reliable local bus services people can rely on is a priority for existing passengers and those looking to cut back on car usage. Ultimately it is about making sure we seize this funding opportunity and use the money to best support the development, design and implementation of ambitious and transformational projects that give significant priority to buses over other forms of motorised transport, improving the punctuality and reliability of services.

“Anyone who feels they missed out on the recent opportunities to pass on their comments on ways to cut congestion and car usage by offering more reliable public travel choices will still be able to be involved in the process. If we are successful in receiving Bus Partnership Funding to move forward to the next phase, there will be more rounds of consultations as each outline business case gets developed.”