Gas diversion works under way ahead of Wick town centre bollards
The eastern end of High Street in Wick has been dug up for gas diversion works ahead of the installation of bollards.
It is hoped that ultimately the scheme will help overcome the problem of motorists using the pedestrian-priority zone illegally.
Work is due to start early next month on installing rising bollards at each end of the pedestrian area.
The section of High Street at the bottom of Shore Lane is closed off to traffic for the time being.
A Highland Council spokesperson said on Friday: “These are gas diversion works which are taking place from April 10-18 and form part of the initial phase of installing the rising bollards.
“The bollard installation works will take place in two phases – the first from May 5-14 and the second from May 19-28.”
The council has written to business owners and residents in the area to tell them about the work schedule and how the bollards will operate.
Oncoming vehicles seeking access will have to use a control pillar to call a control room in Inverness. When the control room is closed, the bollards “will lower on approach”.
Council leader Raymond told community representatives in February that the system would allow legitimate users to access the street while preventing others from using it as a “whizz-through thoroughfare”.
Last month a council spokesperson explained: “A set of two rising bollards will be installed at the entrance to the High Street pedestrianised zone, with another set at the exit to the zone – set back from the existing traffic signals.
“Oncoming vehicles will use the control pillar to call the operator in the Highland Council control room based in Inverness to request access. When the control room is closed, the bollards will lower on approach using the detector loops in the carriageway.
“The exit system will solely use the detector loops in the carriageway, lowering on approach of an oncoming vehicle.
“Access will be permitted in accordance with the existing restrictions for the pedestrian zone.”
The spokesperson said the traffic management plan during the bollard installation works “will still allow access to the High Street area for deliveries and authorised vehicles”.
Concerns have been raised over a number of years about drivers cutting through the pedestrian zone, despite a warning from a sheriff that it is “not a legal shortcut”.
