£18,000 work to improve junction
Lisa Hodge • Published 6 Nov 2010 12:00
A BUSY junction dubbed a rat-run by Kilmacolm residents has been given the green light for an £18,000 upgrade.
Two years ago, fed-up villagers petitioned for improvements to the crossroads at Port Glasgow Road - where five lanes of traffic converge - to make the area safer for pedestrians.
Now, council bosses have agreed to invest the bumper amount in revamping the crossings.
Work will begin on Monday and is expected to last around three weeks, depending on the weather. Convener of Inverclyde Council’s safe sustainable communities committee, councillor Robert Moran, said: “We shall be moving the existing traffic islands and reducing the width of the road either side of them, making it safer for pedestrians.
“It will mean no parking will be allowed on either side of the crossings while the work is carried out and I would ask people to bear with us.”
But councillor Jim MacLeod, who has previously spoken out on behalf of the residents of Kilmacolm, says he has reservations about the effectiveness of the plans.
He added: “While I appreciate it is at last good news for the people of Kilmacolm that this work is finally progressing to make the road safer, I am just not sure that simply moving islands and narrowing a road is going to be enough.”
The phase of the project which begins on Monday will see only the islands on Bridge of Weir Road and Port Glasgow Road affected.
The crossing point on Lochwinnoch Road will be worked on later, once the
£2.3 million Kilmacolm Community Centre is open and pedestrian movements can be assessed in more detail.
This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 06 Nov 10
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