Accident fears over Thurso speed bumps
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STREETS in Thurso have become congested as motorists try to avoid driving over speed bumps.
That is the view of resident David Bridge who said that the situation has become worse ever since the speed bumps were installed.
The 64-year-old businessman’s views come from observation of two years of traffic patterns at Riverside Road.
The speed bumps were put in place by the Highland Council to combat antisocial driving and speeding on the street.
But Mr Bridge, who owns a laundrette and dry-cleaning business at Riverside Place, said that the speed bumps have created a new problem as streets such as Robert Dick Place, Meadow Lane and Wilson Street are being used as escape routes to them.He is now calling on council officials to think of a solution to the problem, and suggesting a one-way system be implemented.
“Ever since the speed bumps were first installed, motorists have been taking different routes to stop driving down Riverside Road from day one,” he said.
“The situation hasn’t changed over the 18 months when they were first put in place, and streets such as Robert Dick Place have become extremely busy.
“These streets are not very wide and people who live there park their cars at the side of the road, leaving only space for one moving car to use the road at a time.
“I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve seen two cars driving towards each other only for one of them to have to reverse out of the street to let the other one past. Even heavy goods vehicles and lorries are avoiding Riverside Road and driving down streets which were not designed for vehicles their size.
“If this situation is allowed to continue, I believe there is an accident just waiting to happen where real damage and injury could be caused.
“By implementing a one way system in this area, I think it could go some way to solving the problem.”
Caithness ward manager David Sutherland said the council has not been approached by anyone regarding introducing a one-way system in the area.
He said that unless the idea received unanimous support from local residents, it would be unlikely it would be considered.
“It is a common pattern that when speed bumps are implemented into an area traffic does tend to use other routes,” he said. “The problem with introducing one-way routes is that they bring a new set of problems, which also lead to traffic using other routes to reach their destination.
“Unless there was very strong support from the area, it would be unlikely that a one-way system would be introduced in the future.”
He added: “Since the speed bumps were first implemented on Riverside Road we have had, on the whole, positive feedback from the public as well as Northern Constabulary.
“The road was once an area were antisocial driving was prevalent, but since the traffic-calming measures have been introduced it has eliminated the problem.”
