BOLD plans have been unveiled to ease the strain on the A8 by creating a new road linking Greenock and Port Glasgow.

Councillor Chris Curley has come up with an ambitious blueprint to develop an alternative to Inverclyde's busiest route.

It would see a road created between Inchgreen, behind the council's Pottery Street depot and the new housing development being built at James Watt Dock Marina.

The secondary carriageway would run parallel to the A8 and link onto James Watt Way in Greenock at one end and Port Glasgow Road, behind the Kingston Dock estate, at the other side.

Mr Curley, a civil engineer by trade, insists the idea is feasible and says he has held initial talks with council officials about his vision.

The aim is to provide an alternative route through Inverclyde if the A8 is closed due to flooding, accidents or roadworks, for example - and alleviate the pressure on the trunk road, which deals with around 36,000 vehicles a day and is currently operating at capacity.

Cllr Curley said: "There's a number of advantages to doing this, the main one being that it provides an alternative to the A8 because of the issues associated with the road. "The A8 does work but it doesn't take much for it to go off. "At the moment, fixing a light or repairing a bit of the road would cause problems.

"It doesn't take much.

"It's working at capacity and anything we can do to reduce the capacity and the number of vehicles using the A8 has got to be an improvement. "Another road here would give robustness to the Inverclyde network."

Mr Curley believes an alternative to the A8 would boost the chances of luring more businesses to major industrial sites like Inchgreen Dry Dock, as well as aiding existing companies and residents.

The Port Glasgow councillor said: "This was an idea maybe 10 or 15 years ago and there were studies done but plans change and things change.

"One of the first things I wanted to do when I was elected as a councillor was to see how I could help improve things. "This is an obvious thing to do.

"The more I looked at it the more I realised it could be done. "I've spoken to council officers about it and what I'm saying is, let's look at this because there's lots of benefits of doing it."

Mr Curley's proposals also include a cycling and walking route along the entire stretch to encourage people to travel from A to B by bike or on foot.

He said: "It's cheaper to walk, cycle or travel by bus than it is by car. "Buses wouldn't get stuck in traffic and if you know bus times are going to be more reliable then it's the cheapest mode of transport.

"It gives us a great deal of opportunity."