Strathspey village’s ‘traffic cop’ invalided out of service by vandals

A Strathspey village’s latest attempt to calm its traffic with a cardboard cop has fallen flat - literally.

Carrbridge’s cardboard cop has come cropper.

There is something about ‘traffic calming measures’ in the village which just seems to have the opposite effect.

It all started last year when Highland Council installed a pavement extension on the main road through the village and instead, according to villagers, produced more of a hazard than a help.

Villagers have been complaining ever since the roadworks that instead of slowing motorists down they had the traffic speeding up to get through the narrowed road before being caught waiting for the traffic coming the other way.

Appeals for the roads department to think again have fallen on deaf ears and the jutting pavement remains in place.

That’s why recently one of the neighbours decided to take action of his own - and went on a police recruitment campaign.

David Mackenzie, of Kintail on the Main Street, told the Strathy: “The main reason I decided to buy a cardboard policeman is the speed of the traffic we are now seeing since we have had the pavement build-out - some are calling it ‘road calming’ - but since this has arrived we as villagers have seen an increase of speed trying to beat one another through the narrow section.

“My concern was just across from my house we have an entrance for four houses some with young children and when they come onto road we are seeing cars on the opposite site racing south which can’t see young children coming out of entrance.

“All I get from council is ‘Well, we need to educate drivers’ but we never had this problem before the council built that pavement out.”

The cardboard cop had an instant effect, he and other residents noticed.

“Traffic did slow the moment it saw that a cop was aiming a speed camera at them.”

One motorist told the Strathy: “It was the eye! The cop’s eye just seemed to follow you as you passed while putting your foot down - on the brake!”

But local vandals were soon doing their best to ‘blind’ the policeman, who suffered several minor injuries.

At the weekend, though, the assaults became more serious and the cardboard cop was finally invalided out to retirement.

The point, though, has been made by the locals, who still want proper traffic calming measures in place, not just a form of chicane which has the opposite effect.

And it seems that now it’s a matter for more than just local neighbours.

The village has its own community council once more and the issue is likely to feature on its agenda very shortly.

Chairman Stewart Mcneish told the Strathy: “We’re going to have to look to a tougher kind of policing - maybe even made from metal!”