14-03-14 Road Issues Raised At The January EKCC Meeting
Reply from Stewart Clark.
At the East Kintyre Community Council Meeting in January, a number of issues were raised which I took a note of at the time and ran by
colleagues. The current update is as listed in the bullet points below. My apologies for the delay in getting back to you:-
* B842 - Scrub encroaching into road corridor at Crossaig - adjacent to SSE site. Possibly a landowner issue(?).
o This was checked out and no issue was found (I'd be grateful if greater detail could be provided if this is still deemed to be an
issue). I understand that Forestry are removing trees and overhanging scrub at Brackley.
* B842 - South of the Crossaig site - drainage issue. Constant flow of water onto the road is creating potholes.
o The damaged culvert at Crossaig was replaced recently resolving this drainage problem.
* Junction opposite Kilaron Guest House in Carradale - Give way lines at junction were not replaced after last summer's surface
dressing exercise.
o This will be picked up at the next visit of the white-lining crew - to be complete by early spring.
* Carradale - The 'Slow' sign marked on the carriageway at the war memorial has faded. Needs replacing.
o As above. This will be picked up at the next visit of the white-lining crew - to be complete by early spring.
* Carradale - Scottish Water manhole covers on the public road near the harbour - the covers have a tendency to 'spring up'.
Scottish Water will attend and fix the covers back down - but problem keeps recurring.
o Raised again with Scottish Water. I have requested that this issue be raised at a senior management level within Scottish Water.
* At 'Wellwood' near Abbeyfield in Carradale Village a large puddle regularly appears on the road.
o As well as additional drainage, it is likely that the carriageway will require some localised surfacing work in order to remove the
low point. We are expecting to carry work out at this location during the forthcoming new financial year.
* B842 between Escart and Oragaig - some recent drainage work was carried out here (possibly by SSE after one of their vehicles
went through a soft verge). There was a suggestion that the road surface is in poor condition and drainage here is still a problem -
needs revisiting.
o We are aware of this issue and will continue to monitor to ensure that the drainage at this location works effectively and is kept
clear. Further work will be carried out if deemed necessary.
* Roadside drainage on the B842 at Torrisdale needs attention.
o Drainage maintenance work continues to be carried out by the local roads teams on this section of the road. The local inspector will
continue to monitor and raise instructions for any necessary works - if there are any particular problem areas we will deal with these.
* There was a request that we consider installing additional street lighting at Tosh's Park in Carradale Village.
o New lanterns will be installed in early March. Thereafter, SSE will do final connections.
* The subject of speed limits in the village was raised. Concerns were raised about speeding at various locations.
o Carradale is made up of two distinct settlements, a small cluster of houses around the junction of the B842 Cloanaig to Southend road
and the B879 Carradale Pier road and a larger group of houses around Carradale harbour. Both settlements have 30 mph speed limits with a
40 mph speed limit on the section of the B879 which joins the settlements. The B879 is 2.49 km long with approximately 1.5 km in open
country with a small number of isolated dwellings fronting the road.
o National Guidelines recommend the speed limits should be largely self-enforcing in as much as drivers are provided by visual cues
which influence their behaviour and thereby control their speed to appropriate levels. The link between the two settlements is classed as
an open rural road and does not have 20 dwellings fronting the road in a distance of 600 metres, therefore is not considered as a
settlement. The existing speed limit of 40 mph is fully compatible with ETLLD Circular 1/2006.
o A review of accident statistics was carried out recently for the Scottish Government. For the 5 year period for which accident
records are held, on the B879 there were three accidents. Two of these were due to drivers making "poor turns or manoeuvres"; one of which
was in the rural section of the road and the other was within the settlement of Carradale Harbour. The third accident was within the
settlement of Carradale Harbour and involved a stolen vehicle driven under the influence of alcohol.
o There are currently no plans to alter current speed restriction arrangements in Carradale.
* The cemetery road and grass cutting in and around the cemetery was raised by Cllr McAlpine. Cllr McAlpine stated that there
may be a reduction in the service provided and asked that a statement be provided to the Community Council on the subject.
o 'In delivering the necessary budget savings, from the budget process of February 2013, Amenity Services have had to re-model future
service delivery and adjust the frequency of certain tasks. Grass cutting will see a slight reduction in the number of cuts throughout the
maintenance season.' From Tom Murphy, Amenity Area Manager.
* An issue came up in relation to the road and adjacent parking at Broomhill in Carradale. Parking is very limited and residents
have, in effect, introduced a new ad hoc access road where they having been cutting across the large grassy verge.
o Although Roads & Amenity Services have no responsibility for residential parking we have raised this issue with ACHA. Their initial
response was that they would be unlikely to provide more off-street parking at Broomfield. We have suggested some areas where parking
could be constructed and we are currently awaiting their response. We will continue to pursue this issue.
I trust the above information will help keep the Community Council informed of progress. Please do not hesitate to contact me directly
if there is any additional information you require or further issues you wish to raise.
Regards
Stewart Clark
Roads Performance Manager
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