Committee Gives Green Light To Active Travel And Road Safety Work

3rd May 2024

At the Highland Council Economy and Infrastructure Committee. (Thursday 2 May 2024) Members had the opportunity to review the work the Council is doing to progress active travel and improve road safety before approving the next steps.

The Committee approved a draft Active Travel Strategy 2024 - 2030 that outlines the Council's vision to make active travel an attractive and realistic choice for more people, more often, for more of their everyday journeys.

Under Item 8 of today's report, you can view the Active Travel Strategy 2024-2030. https://www.highland.gov.uk/meetings/meeting/4964/economy_and_infrastructure_committee

An Active Travel Workflow document that addresses ongoing and legacy projects and details the team's priority projects that will be taken forward in 2024 - 2025 was also noted.

Chair of the Committee, Councillor Ken Gowans said: "A lot of progress has been made in developing Active Travel projects and getting the necessary infrastructure in place on the ground so I would like to thank everyone who has had a role to play in making this happen.

"The draft Strategy approved today was informed following the feedback we received after sessions of public and internal engagement in spring last year so I would like to thank everyone who engaged with the process. Our Active Travel team will continue to work with partners to maximise the delivery of infrastructure across the Highlands and will report progress on the Committee’s Workflow Programme on an annual basis."

The Committee also approved a draft Road Safety Plan 2024 - 2030 that sets clear targets whilst monitoring progress against a set of key performance indicators directly linked to preventing deaths and serious injuries for all road users in The Highland Council area. Focus is placed on the Safe Systems approach to Road Safety, which focusses on the 5 pillars of Safe Road Use which are - Safe Vehicles, Safe Speeds, Safe Roads and Roadsides and Post-Crash Response.

Also, at Item 8 of today’s report, you can view the Road Safety Plan 2024-2030.

Cllr Gowans said: "The Council, as the Local Road’s Authority, along with its partners, aims to play its part in delivering a Safer, Healthier and Greener Road Network for the Highlands. This involves setting clear targets and monitoring progress against a set of key performance indicators directly linked to preventing deaths and serious injuries for all road users.

"Through the development of our Road Safety Plan and our Active Travel Strategy, we aim to focus on behavioural change and includes taking forward the new 20mph Speed Limit introduction.

“We are all road users; as pedestrians, cyclists, riders, drivers or passengers, road safety issues affect us all. Collisions on our roads can have a devastating impact on the lives of individuals, friends, families, and communities. We are all too aware that behind every statistic there is pain, suffering and loss felt when someone is killed or seriously injured.

“Our plan is aligned to Transport Scotland’s ‘Road Safety Framework to 2030 - Together, making Scotland’s roads safer’. It recognises and builds upon the progress made to date and seeks continued improvements to road safety in the Highlands.

“This will be by no means easy given the present financial pressures and the resultant impact on future work programmes; however, we cannot afford to be complacent, and it is imperative that its road safety successes of the past are sustained over forthcoming years."