‘Delays will be worth it’ – Wick’s provost praises road workers for major work being undertaken in town centre
Wick and East Caithness councillor Jan McEwan today praised road workers delivering major improvements to Wick’s town centre and said traffic delays will be well worth it.
Highland Council posted a public notice to say that the A99 along Bridge Street and High Street will be closed continuously from the junction with Whitechapel Road to the junction with Victoria Place, from 10am on Wednesday (July 10) until 3pm on July 14.
It also states: “Resurfacing and drainage works are scheduled for A99 Cliff Road, Bridge St, High St, George St and North Road in Wick from Thu 4 Jul 24 for approx 3 weeks. Road order in place from Wed 10 Jul - Sat 14 Jul between 10am and 3pm daily for the corner of Bridge Street and High Street.
“Traffic will be allowed past on an ad-hoc basis,” it further states.
Mrs McEwan, who is also the town’s provost, said that the disruption in the town will be worth it ahead of Wick’s upcoming Gala Week scheduled to start on July 27.
“I’m absolutely delighted that Bridge Street, High Street and George Street are being done,” she said today (Friday, July 12).
“I pushed to get this done before the Gala to make it safe for all the streetwalkers, the little dancers and suchlike. It would have been a health and safety issue due to the state of the roads and accidents could have occurred.
“The roads men are working their socks off to get this finished. They are so hard working and should be praised as they don’t get the gratitude they deserve. They just go where they are told to go and I’m so thankful these roads are being done at last.”
She also talked of her delight over the funding package approved at a Highland Council meeting earlier this year to upgrade road infrastructure throughout the county.
Wick and East Caithness councillor and Highland Council leader Raymond Bremner gave an update to members of the Royal Burgh of Wick Community Council at their July meeting and said: “ “I know a lot of folk will welcome this news – please be patient whilst they undertake the works. We asked for the greater area to be considered rather than small patches and the strategic funding secured recently will help the delivery of this.”
Speaking this afternoon (July 12), Cllr Bremner added: “The resurfacing of the area from the entrance to the Industrial Estate to Cliff Road in Wick has been long awaited and has taken some time to plan. I'm delighted that it has all now become a reality. I was keen that we looked at a full resurface of the road rather than patches.
“The allocation of about £3.2M of capital funding is the highest amount for a single year that I am aware of for our county and this has helped provide for the cost of the project which I believe will probably be between £0.4M and £0.5M.
“It is hard to see how this would ever have been realised beforehand given that the base budget for Caithness was only £600k. It will be a big boost to the regeneration of the town centre along with the recent opening of the new Whitechapel Public Convenience and the planned resurfacing works for pathways at the riverside. The appearance of the town centre and the impression that visitors to the town, given that it is a part of the NC500, will be greatly improved.”
Cllr Bremner said the current work “is only part of the investment” to repair a number of the road surfaces in Wick this year. Glamis Road, Leith Walk, the junction between Willowbank and Girnigoe Street and areas around Pulteneytown including Loch St, Kinnaird St, Argyle Sq, Carnaby Road and Old Wick Road, Roxburgh Road, Harrow Hill and various others are also included.
“This is all part of the increased investment announced at the meeting of the full council at the end of June as part of the Highland Council's Highland Investment Plan between now and 2027 and for the following 20 years thereafter.
“I'm looking forward to the continued improvements being delivered all over the county. They are very welcome and I'm certain our communities will appreciate them and the work that's going into achieve this outcome.”
