Newtonmore 'no through' with short-cut lane
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A FINAL decision on whether a through road in the centre of Newtonmore is to be closed off remains in the balance because of protracted community council elections in the Highlands.
A debate has been raging for months in the village over whether or not to stop through traffic using popular Curley's Lane – which runs from Main Street to Golf Course Road – because of safety concerns.
A letter from the village's watchdog to residents earlier this year said: “Over the last year we have been trying to get Highland Council to come up with a solution that would be acceptable to members to resolve a couple of issues that have arisen in connection with the junction of Curley's Lane and Main Street.
"The first issue was structural damage being caused to a property on the junction which has been attributed by professionals to heavy vehicles using the lane for access and exit. In some cases, this has resulted in the stonework being damaged superficially, but it is also causing structural cracks.
"The second issue is the safety of everyone caused by the junction itself. Exiting onto the Main Street can be difficult especially when larger vehicles are parked in the cut-in at the old Co-op.
"This can obscure the view of vehicles coming from Kingussie direction and has caused several near misses.
"Equally though, there is a danger to pedestrians on Main Street who may not expect vehicles to suddenly exit from the lane.
"There is also a danger in turning into the lane from Main Street as it is impossible to tell if there is vehicle coming in the opposite direction and reversing back out can be difficult."
Various options were discussed and eventually the best was seen to be closing access to and from Main Street to the lane.
However, Highland Council's roads authority wants village consensus and the community council has since been canvassing for opinions.
Watchdog secretary Graham Fraser explained a decision could not be made until after the community council elections were concluded.
He said: "We will discuss this at our next meeting. The date of that however is uncertain because of the timetable surrounding the community council elections."
