NC500 signpost finally re-erected at Reiss – residents nightmare at an end thanks to efforts of local councillor
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A collapsed road sign on the A99 at Reiss has finally been put back up after the local authority was pressured by a Wick and East Caithness councillor.
Jan McEwan, who is also the provost of Wick, raised the issue in September 2022 and said she had been approached by the residents of Nordwall Park who were fed up with NC500 tourists getting confused and overshooting the junction to John O'Groats, then turning back via their cul-de-sac.
After visiting the reinstated road sign on Wednesday afternoon Cllr McEwan said: "It is almost a year since the residents contacted me regarding this sign.
"I repeatedly reported [the issue] as it was disturbing the lives of the residents in Nordwall Park and I suspect on the Sibster Road too at Reiss.
"I know that it didn’t seem a priority to the council but to the lives that were constantly getting disturbed by convoys of vehicles nearly every day, indeed it was a priority. I am so grateful that the signage has now been replaced and I wish the residents of Reiss a peaceful summer."
Fellow Highland Councillor for Wick and East Caithness Willie Mackay said: "Yes, a welcome sign indeed and, although it took some time in getting it replaced, it couldn't have come at a better time as the tourist season is starting to pick up rapidly.
"As reported, countless vehicles were missing the junction and continuing west towards Killimster before realising they missed the turn off. It surprised me at the time, especially those vehicles fitted with the modern day sat-nav."
In September last year, a council spokesman admitted that the local authority had been responsible for the delays but blamed this on issues surrounding "the supply and delivery of the sign posts". Despite promises the signs were soon arriving it took a further eight months for the situation to be finally resolved and the structure reinstated on the A99.
Cllr McEwan highlighted the issue and visited people living at Nordwall Park last year, and said at that time: "I have reported this matter to the Highland Council on various occasions since I was elected in May. This issue is greatly disturbing local residents' quality of life with constant mobile homes, cars and motorcycles turning into their normally quiet residential street, quite often in convoy."
The road sign, which had toppled in high winds two years ago, let motorists know of the junction between the B876 and A99 where the NC500 route continues. The councillor and residents believed it led to confusion by drivers who missed the vital turn-off.
Cllr McEwan said that the matter would be "easily remedied" by re-erecting the toppled sign and improving other signs at the junction to make it clearer where the NC500 route is. She also thinks that a "No Through Road" sign at the entrance to the cul-de-sac would be a great benefit as well.
Residents at Nordwall Park said that most of the problem seemed to be coming from the A99 side of the junction with vehicles that had probably travelled via Wick. "We had a campervan do a circle on the grass at the side of my bird table and another turned right round in my drive," said one resident.
"I've been here four years and it got really bad this year after the Covid restrictions ended. I think they're not used to a main tourist road suddenly turning off to the right like that and there's no prior warning that it does. Nordwall Park is not part of the NC500 route." The resident said the issue had been affecting his mental health but is now delighted that the matter has finally been resolved.
Another resident said she believed that many of the motorists were past the junction before realising where they were. "It always went on since the NC500 started but it got worse because of the pandemic. With me living where I do it gets very noisy – it's like living in a car park and they're often coming in convoys," she added.
Cllr McEwan also noted that the NC500 signs at the junction were "really small" and said that some had been partly obscured by charity stickers. Cllr Mackay said: "All is sorted now, so let's look forward to a bumper season ahead."
