Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Kathryn Anderson

Speed limit trial being introduced in Kinross-shire to allay pupil safety fears

A 40mph speed limit trial is being introduced on the A911 east of Scotlandwell.

Locals fear for schoolkids’ lives as they await school buses outside their homes along the 60mph route with its blind summits and corners.

A call was made for the speed limit to be reduced from 60mph to 40mph between Scotlandwell and the Fife boundary at Auchmuirbridge.

The newly created Kinross-shire Committee took the decision at its inaugural meeting on January 20.

Council data showed 90 vehicles a day going over 60mph.

Local resident Mr Lowrey told the committee there were 15 to 20 schoolkids on any given day getting on and off a bus and having to cross the road.

He reported regularly seeing “skid marks, bits of car and bumper” along this stretch and “road users going at 60 plus struggling to get round the corner in one piece” was a “frequent - almost daily - occurrence”.

Mr Lowrey described the road as too dangerous to walk along the side of which was “not the best” for the environment.

He said: “Every time we have to go for a pint of milk we have to take the car.”

Kinross-shire Lib Dem councillor and keen cyclist Willie Roberston revealed he too would not use active travel on this route.

He said: “If I am happy to cycle a road, I think it’s safe. I’ve cycled nearly every road in Kinross-shire but I’ve never ever cycled this section.”

PKC’s head of environment and consumer services Mark Butterworth said there was a “big demand” for road safety schemes across Perth and Kinross.

He told the committee: “We have got approximately 800 schemes on our database.”

The report put before the committee recommended the A911 forms part of a Route Action Plan with a further report brought before a future committee.

The committee would then meet to agree to any required improvements once the Route Action Plan investigations in 2022 were completed.

During the meeting calls were made for better signage, perhaps warning of schoolchildren crossing the road.

An officer said this was difficult due to different buses stopping at so many points.

Both PKC’s traffic and network team and Police Scotland said they did not think a reduced speed limit would be appropriate on this stretch with “no evidence of excessive vehicle speeds or any significant accident history”.

Conservative Kinross-shire councillor Callum Purves put forward a motion for a 40mph speed limit to be introduced from the buffer at Scotlandwell to the Fife boundary at Auchmuirbridge.

This was seconded by Cllr Robertson who said local councillors and Portmoak Community Council had lobbied hard for this “year after year”.

The committee agreed to implement the reduced speed limit “as soon as practicably possible” then assess it as part of the Route Action Plan investigation and decide whether or not to make it a permanent reduction.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.