Transport / ‘Great relief’ as Dales Lees road reopens
Local councillor Andrew Hall says his fears over road safety in Brae were allayed – but there could be more challenges on the horizon
A NORTH Mainland councillor says it will be a “great relief” to people that the Dales Lees road has reopened after months of closure.
Andrew Hall said it would be “understating the obvious” to say that the A968 road had been closed for “far too long”.
The road, which is an important route for getting to the Toft ferry terminal for onward transport to Yell, Unst and Fetlar, reopened on Monday.
It had been closed since July to allow for cabling work as part of SSEN Distribution’s Shetland North Reinforcement project.
Its reopening had twice been delayed – the latest being the other week when more time was needed to allow for reinstatement of the edge line.
With traffic for the ferry terminal having to be diverted through Brae for a number of months, Hall had previously expressed concern about road safety in the village as a result.
But the Brae-based councillor said his concerns were largely allayed, thanks in part to a “smiley face” sign which tells drivers when they are going over the 30mph limit.
“I have been pleasantly surprised at how successful the smiley face speed sign placed at the Burravoe junction has been at reducing the speed of vehicles entering Brae from the south,” Hall said.
“At the recent road safety advisory panel meeting I encouraged the use of these signs on a permanent basis at all of the main roads entering Brae and indeed in all areas of Shetland where speeding is an issue.”
However Hall said he “very much doubts” SSEN would have closed an A-class road on the mainland for the same amount of time.
With more SSEN developments on the horizon in the North Mainland in the coming years, Hall is also expecting a “significant increase in south-based contractor traffic”.
Among the developments proposed is a large substation hub in the Scatsta/Sullom Voe area.
This would be located near green ammonia plant Statkraft is proposing to build near to the former Scatsta Airport.
Hall said as a community “we need to be as prepared as much as possible” for increased contractor traffic, adding that the smiley face signs will help encourage drivers to slow down.
“However, we already have an issue with the poor road behaviour of visiting contractors and it will only get worse if the proposed SSEN Transmission developments take place,” he said.
“Too many poorly driven contractor vehicles are completely devoid of sign writing, which makes it almost impossible to raise the issue with employers.
“Consequently, at the panel meeting I also raised, and will be pushing for, contractors to sign up to the Considerate Construction Scheme and the Fleet Operators Recognition Scheme, which would help identify contractor vehicles, providing far greater accountability to our community.”
The topic also got aired at a meeting of Shetland’s community safety and resilience board on Wednesday.
Hall also urged Shetland Islands Council to crack down on contractors driving around the isles, claiming that there were examples of them “not having much respect for the communities they are living in”.
“We’ve had a lot of issues in Brae,” he told the meeting.
“Contractor vehicles have been parking and not being very mindful of the community.
“We’ve had problems with the contractor vans parking in the disabled bays at Brae Co-op.”
SSEN was approached for comment on Friday regarding contractor driving but no response has yet been received.
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