Transport / Roads staff looking into Black Gaet junction accident statistics
WORK is ongoing to assess police statistics and data to gauge if there are any trends behind road accidents at the Black Gaet junction.
Shetland Islands Council’s roads manager Dave Coupe said it could be a couple of weeks yet before the results of the assessment are known.
It comes after another crash at the junction on Thursday morning, with no injuries reported.
The junction, located above Gulberwick, is regarded in the community as something of an accident blackspot.
A report on the junction went to councillors around seven years ago but there was no definitive trend when it came to the cause of accidents, meaning no road safety action was taken.
That report said around 7,200 vehicles pass through the junction, which provides a road link between the south and central mainland, each day.
“We are currently looking at accident stats for the junction since the last report went to committee in 2014 to see if any trends have developed that might point to a particular causing factor that we could address,” Coupe said this week.
The junction includes a short ‘give way’ slip road joining onto the main carriageway just metres from the turning.
Meanwhile work on a design for the new Cullivoe road in Yell is progressing.
In March councillors gave the green light to a £5 million two-lane road between Gutcher and Cullivoe.
The stretch of road, which is in poor condition, is regarded as an important carriageway for the local economy due to the link to the Cullivoe pier, where fish is brought ashore.
“The design is going well and we are not far from having a final design now,” Coupe said.
After the final design is completed, it will go out to consultation with the community, the roads manager said.
The next stage after that would be land purchase before construction starts.
But due to the nature of the project it will be several years before the revamped road will be ready for use.
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