Transport / Concern over impact Dales Lees closure could have on road safety in Brae
THERE is “genuine concern” in the Brae community over speeding and safety with increased traffic expected over the coming months during a nearby road closure.
The A968 Dales Lees road between Voe and Firth, which is used particularly for traffic heading to the Toft ferry, will be shut for a number of months to allow SSEN to carry out underground cabling work.
Recent estimates suggested the road would be closed between late June and November.
Local councillor Andrew Hall relayed concerns at a meeting of Shetland’s community safety and resilience board this week over the impact the temporary closure of the Dales Lees road could have on the A970 through Brae.
Hall said some people will have an “extra 10 minutes to travel, so if they’re trying to catch a ferry, they’ll invariably speed through Brae”.
“There’s no doubt about it, some people will,” he said.
“It is a massive concern in the community. The amount of times I’ve been stopped by people when I’ve gone to the shops, phone calls, emails…there’s a genuine concern, and it is all about road safety.
“I think we need to be seen to act on the community’s concerns.”
He raised the suggestion of extra signage at the entrance to Brae, as well as additional road markings and ‘smiley face’ speed checkers which tell drivers if they are going over the limit, which is 30mph for most of the village.
Shetland Islands Council’s (SIC) roads manager Neil Hutcheson said the smiley face system is scheduled to go into Brae during that period.
He also said the SIC will put up some temporary 30mph signage to try to “reinforce that message to make sure that drivers do keep down to the correct speed”.
Hutcheson also told the meeting on Wednesday that the roads department is proposing to check existing road markings and make sure they are in good condition.
Area commander chief inspector Chris Sewell also suggested the police would carry out speed checks in the area too.
Hall said they have “already got an issue with speeding through the village” which will “definitely be exacerbated by this extra traffic”.
Meanwhile Hutcheson said he believed there were no objections to a recent consultation on plans to bring in a reduced 40mph limit through Voe.
He also said roads near to housing estates in parts of the North Mainland could have their speeds dropped to 20mph, mirroring the recent moves made in Lerwick and Scalloway.
“Later in the summer we’re looking to promote 20 mile per hour speed limits in Northmavine and Delting,” the roads manager said.
“That basically would be on the housing estates in Ollaberry, Hilswick, Mossank, Firth, Voe and Brae etcetera.”
He said lower limits could potentially “change the mindset of people who really should be reducing their speed to those sort of levels when they’re in and about the residential areas”.
Lerwick councillor Neil Pearson asked if there would be a “grace period” for prosecuting people driving over the new 20mph limits which have been introduced in the town.
However, Sewell suggested Police Scotland has a general policy not to enforce 20mph limits, with the focus more on areas with “greater risk”.
Reduced speed limits of 40mph are also to be promoted for the main road through Cunningsburgh, and the A971 in the Kalliness area.
The meeting also heard how road signs for a reduced 50mph limit on the A970 in Levenwick should be going up soon.
Hutcheon said the SIC now has funding in place for traffic calming measures on Gilbertson Road in Lerwick, with most of the work potentially taking place in the October holidays to avoid disrupting the Bell’s Brae Primary School.
There are also five funding bids into Transport Scotland for active travel projects, which includes schemes in areas like Aith, Symbister and Sandwick.
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