Keithhall road report gets the go ahead from Garioch councillors
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Garioch Area Committee this week considered a petition raising numerous concerns about the neglected state of the B933 running from Inverurie to Keithhall.
Councillors were presented with the petition which claimed that the stretch has been neglected by Aberdeenshire Council for a number of years and as such there are a number of repairs required which are becoming increasingly urgent.
As well as urgent repairs the petition also outlined a number of improvements which could be made, including adjustments to the timing of the St Mary's traffic lights and alterations to the speed limits which are in place as well as raising issues with flooding and concerns about the lack of a footpath despite it being a popular route with walkers
The councillors heard that although the petition did not meet the required number of signatures it was agreed that it should be taken before the committee on exceptional circumstances, described as the size of the Keithhall settlement and the restrictions posed by the pandemic.
Presenting the petition to the committee, petitioner Dr Denys Wheatley said: "This list is not comprehensive.
"I could add some more, especially after the inclement weather that occurred recently which has exacerbated the problem or highlighted it.
"We need to act and it needs to be soon, in some respects it's urgents."
He also appealed to the committee that compared with the proposals for the dualling of the A96 the cost for the requested repairs would be "trivial".
Throughout the subsequent discussions councillors encouraged Dr Wheatley to ensure that issues were raised with Police, the local community council and through the appropriate Aberdeenshire Council reporting channels.
Councillor Judy Whyte queried if it would be possible to request from the relevant departments a brief "factual status" on the assessment of the various repairs rather than a full report, stating: "The general issues raised pertain to roads across Aberdeenshire; most of these roads were designed at a time when traffic was very different."
Councillor Martin Ford said: "The list of comments made are very diverse indeed and the outcomes for them is probably equally diverse.
"For some of the more serious ones, councillor Whyte has absolutely correctly made the point that the road network in Aberdeenshire dates back to a time that people travelled by different means much less quickly and there were much fewer of them than there are now, and rebuilding all the roads to a way that people would like to travel is neither possible, affordable nor indeed desirable and it is certainly not going to happen."
Inverurie ward councillors Neil Baillie and Lesley Berry both voiced their support for a follow up report, with Ms Berry highlighting that the road is often used as a diversion route if there are issues with the A96.
Roads department's Brian Strachan told the committee that the road's classification means that it is inspected approximately monthly, and that there are currently no significant defects noted by the inspector.
Councillors were asked to vote on whether or not a report on the issues raised by the community should be created by the various departments - including roads and landscape services - and there was a unanimous vote in favour of the report.
Councillors expect to hear the results of the report at their meeting on April 20.
