Over the last 10 months the council commissioned two major community-led workshops to allow local people to have their say about issues with the road. After extensive analysis of the responses, the main two issues were highlighted as a desire for safer crossing of the road and measures to reduce the speed of drivers.
There were also four priority areas of the road identified:
• Between Dechmont Avenue and Logans Road, including the area around the shops
• At the junction with Ladywell Road
• The area next to Ailsa Nursery Centre
• The junction with Hamilton Road
The council will now move forward to improve these areas in priority order, with any works designed to ensure that traffic issues are not displaced elsewhere.
Councillor Paul Kelly, depute leader of North Lanarkshire Council, explained: "The consultation was extensive - the biggest roads consultation the council has ever carried out - and was extremely helpful. By definition works such as these need very careful planning to ensure they don't have any unintended consequences, maintain good access for residents and achieve the desired outcomes.
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"I understand that waiting for these works can be frustrating for local people but the council has a number of complex steps to work through before work starts on the ground. This includes statutory consultations, establishing land ownership and designing each specific part of the works. All of this takes time but I am confident this will lead to the best outcome for road users."
One of the first actions required is the moving of some bus stops along the road. Consideration will also be given to changing the nature of some of the bus stops to stop overtaking of buses at stops. This requires consultation with Police Scotland and Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT), which will begin in the coming days.
In addition, title searches have begun to ascertain land ownership in the priority areas. Another immediate step is direct consultation with businesses and users of the shops at the north end of the road, between Dechmont Avenue and Logans Road.
Nicole Paterson, Head of Environmental Assets at the council, said: "These next stages are crucial to ensure the solutions put in place are the right ones. We will be able to announce the specific plans for each priority area as they are designed and we will keep local people up to date with progress. The consultation involved people fully and we aim to keep doing that as we work through what is an extensive programme. Since the consultation ended we have analysed the hundreds of pieces of information gathered.
"As we produce detailed designs, it is essential that we make sure we don't just push traffic problems elsewhere in the area. This has to work for everyone and provide safer crossing and reduced speed. Some of those solutions will be simple, some more complicated."
(MH/JG)
