Chairwoman Coreen Campbell said that although the scheme does not involve the full resurfacing of a problem area of the trunk road, it should be an improvement.

"We're delighted that they are patching up the road. The South Road and Francis Street are in an awful mess just now. It's hard going on cars and it causes a lot of wear and tear on vehicles using it," she told the Caithness Courier.

"We wish it was the full works being proposed, but at least we should get a half-decent road out of it and I hope the community bears with the disruption."

Her comments come after Scotland TranServ, acting on behalf of Transport Scotland, released proposals to nearby residents on Monday, detailing patching repairs on a kilometre-long stretch of the road.

The works will stretch from the traffic lights on Francis Street to the 30 mph speed limit sign opposite the town's retail park.

"The community as a whole has been complaining about South Road for a number of years. We knew TranServ would be doing the work when they secured funding from Transport Scotland," said Mrs Campbell.

Scotland TranServ yesterday confirmed that the upgrade would be going ahead on June 14. It is expected that the works will operate from 7am to 7pm and last for around a week.

During this time there will be numerous disruptions.

On South Road, between the 30 mph restriction and the turn-off for Hospital Road, there will be a traffic convoy system in place.

The rest of the works will have temporary traffic lights at them.

"I think the disruption will be okay.

"It's the start of the summer season but the traffic is moving slowly along the road because of the potholes anyway," said Mrs Campbell.

She also addressed the reason for it being a "patch job" and not a full resurfacing of the road.

"The problem, as I understand it, is that the road needs new drains to stop the flooding.

"Obviously we would rather see them fix the drains before a proper resurfacing," she said.

"There's no point in doing a resurfacing and then having to dig it all back up to put the drains in. A good patch job is better than the way that it is just now."

There are eight designated patches in the plans, including a new high-friction surface at the northbound approach to the traffic lights on Francis Street.

Transport Scotland is dealing with progress on a new drainage system for the road and it is understood to be an ongoing matter.

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