Rimell enlists local MP to tackle A86 road sign 'hazard'
8-Mar-2012
Highland Lib Dem candidate for Badenoch & Strathspey Gregor Rimell has enlisted the support of local MP Danny Alexander to highlight concerns over the hazard posed by new signage on the A86 near Newtonmore.
Road maintenance company Scotland Transerv has erected posts carrying chevrons, rows of reflectors and additional signage at potentially hazardous sections of the road, just where regular drivers on the road say they need space to avoid collisions with large oncoming vehicles. There is now a danger that they will instead risk hitting the myriad of new reflective signage.
Mr Alexander joined Gregor Rimell and Nigel Nicol, Chairman of Newtonmore Business Association, to see the problem for himself last week while out on the local election campaign trail. Mr Nicol explained the concern of local residents that new 'chevron' signs on tight bends risk adding to the hazard by removing drivers only means of escape from an already narrow stretch of road.
Commenting on the situation, Gregor Rimell said:
"The overwhelming problem with the A86 single carriageway road is that in many places the width of mettled surface is insufficient for two vehicles to pass each other.
"Faced with fast oncoming vehicles and juggernaughts in the middle of the road, motorists have little alternative but to swerve on to the left hand verge. With the new signs in place, there is potentially no escape.
"We should be thinking carefully about road clutter and whether it distracts motorists from making the right judgements for themselves. Signs or no signs, at 7:30 in the morning there are often goats on the road at this location. That is what visitors to the National Park come here to see, not miles of garish modern signage with little if any benefit.
"If Transerv would work with local people rather than carrying on regardless, we could come up with improvements that would have a much clearer positive impact."
Local MP Danny Alexander added:
"From the tyre marks on the road and debris at the roadside, it doesn't seem that the new signs are having much success in reducing the dangers of the narrow bends. It's acutely concerning if they may be making the situation worse - and could ultimately contribute to a more serious accident.
"Given that these signs seem to have been put up without proper consultation, I hope Transerv will now agree to meet the local people who know the road best. If 'safety' signs are actually making the road more dangerous, they must be removed."
ENDS
