This morning, along with my ward colleagues, I had a very useful meeting with City Council officers regarding the council's proposals for improving Riverside Drive (area between Tesco and Riverside Approach - see map above) as part of the overall project to improve access to the area on foot and by bicycle that includes the construction of the new pedestrian bridge over the rail line at Seabraes.
The recent headlines about the project focussed on the proposal to reduce the number of lanes on the road at this point from four to two and we spent some time going through the traffic modelling that has been undertaken to ensure that changing the road layout will not result in increased congestion and tailbacks.
The project is funded through Sustrans and at £850 000 is the largest ever Sustrans-funded project that the City Council has achieved to date.
Key points covered today included :
* The road will be resurfaced - which is good news as it is in a poor, deteriorated condition at present.
* Immediately west of the Tesco roundabout, there will be a toucan crossing (to assist both pedestrians and cyclists) and there will be staging in the middle of the road to assist pedestrian safety.
* Although the road lanes reduce to two, the overall road width remains pretty much the same, allowing a hard strip at the road side so cars can pull in in emergency situations.
* There will be a left turn lane into Tesco/new flats for vehicles coming from the west. From the east at the "Tesco roundabout", the right lane will become right turn only into Tesco/the new flats. A new, wider pavement will be constructed to the east side of the flats as well.
* There will be a welcome improvement to pavement width on the north side of the road both near to Riverside Approach and just west of Tesco (in front of the new flats being constructed at present). Green space will be created between the footpath and the road to improve matters for pedestrians walking along the pavement near to this very busy road.
* There will also be a pedestrian crossing just east of Barnetts Motors, west of Riverside Approach. It is also hoped at a later stage to provide crossings further west - at Riverside Nature Park and immediately south of Harris Academy (once the new school building is open) to allow safe crossing for pupils to the playing fields on the south side.
* There will be cycle stands provided at the Roseangle playpark.
* I was particularly keen to see new pedestrian signage to, in particular, let pedestrians know the route to the Perth Road district shopping centre and this will be progressed. There will also be temporary "new road layout" road signage once the new road layout is in place.
* Project timescales are start August 2014 (after public consultation and committee approval - no work to commence until after the Commonwealth Games period) with completion by October 2014. During the work, all efforts will be made to minimise traffic disruption (any road closures should they be necessary will be overnight only). The Seabraes pedestrian bridge will be completed by April 2015.
There will be consultation with West End Community Council and the West End Local Community Planning Partnership. Any resident with views or queries about the project is welcome to contact me at riverside@frasermacpherson.org.uk.