A9/A96 Inshes to Smithton scheme and Inshes junction improvements

[Glen]

Preferred options for Transport Scotland's Inshes to Smithton scheme, linking the A9 and A96 on the East of Inverness have been published this week.

The route is a single carriageway road running from the B9006 at a point where Cauldfield Road North currently meets it to the south roundabout at the planned Smithton junction which will be built as part of the A96 Dualling scheme, at the location of the existing Smithton roundabout at the Western end of Barn Church Road.
There will be intermediate roundabouts to provide the existing access into Cradlehall and a new access to the Inverness Retail Park.

In addition, an auxiliary lane will be provided on the southbound carriageway of the A9 between Raigmore Interchange and Inshes Junction (there is already one on the northbound carriageway of this section).
This will result in the overbridge at Inshes needing to be replaced to accomodate the widened A9, the replacement will upgrade the B9006 to a four lane road, instead of the existing two lanes.

There are two route variants being taken forward to DMRB stage 3, with the route passing either side of a farm mid-way.

https://www.transport.gov.scot/publicat ... -smithton/

All of this is to accompany a Highland Council project to upgrade the rest of the Inshes junction and hospital junction on the B9006 west of the A9.
The current six-arm roundabout is to be replaced with a signalled four-way crossroads, with the other two roads joining at additional signalled junctions.
The widened overbridge crossing the A9 will allow this to connect into the previous junction upgrade to the east of the A9, which was to provide access to the new university campus.

https://www.highland.gov.uk/downloads/f ... bookletpdf

[wrinkly]

It's probably right for this scheme to have its own thread but there has been some recent discussion in this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=25657&start=60

[A9Craig]

Initially wasn't this scheme about connecting the A9 directly to the A96 bypassing the Raigmore Interchange? I thought that's why Transport Scotland were involved. Now in the plans it looks like a local road to open up land for development and is rebranded as "City Deal" money. No one is going to use that road to connect the A9/A96.

The new traffic light controlled junction to replace the Inshes Roundabout sounds horrendous. They'll certainly need that extra lane on the A9 South.

[Glen]

The majority of traffic making those movements between the A9 south and the A96 at Raigmore is local traffic, going to either the retail park or Barn Church Road.

The purpose of the scheme is to remove some traffic from Raigmore Interchange, and it does that by providing an alternative route for some of the busiest movements.

And I'm not sure why you think a four-way signalled junction will be worse than a six-arm roundabout.
Having two lanes in both directions over the bridge leading to a signalled junction will optimise the operation of the existing signals at the campus junction.

[Altnabreac]

Looking in more detail at the Highland Council Inshes changes I'm now pretty happy with this scheme.

As was discussed in the West Link thread the percentage of traffic that actually wants to bypass Inverness is fairly low so much bigger improvements can be had by improving routes for Inverness bound traffic.

A9 South - Nairn traffic is likely to remain on the A96 but volumes will be dwarfed by the numbers of people from southern Inverness heading for the retail park who will be removed from Raigmore Interchange.

My only concern is that eventually you might still want to grade separate the A96, retail park roundabout but that could always be taken forward as an extra scheme later.

[rachandsarai]

The majority of traffic making those movements between the A9 south and the A96 at Raigmore is local traffic, going to either the retail park or Barn Church Road.

The purpose of the scheme is to remove some traffic from Raigmore Interchange, and it does that by providing an alternative route for some of the busiest movements.



And I'm not sure why you think a four-way signalled junction will be worse than a six-arm roundabout.
Having two lanes in both directions over the bridge leading to a signalled junction will optimise the operation of the existing signals at the campus junction.

I know that bit gets busy during rush hour. What would they do to the road Glen?

[wrinkly]

Exhibition coming up:

https://www.transport.gov.scot/news/sta ... display-2/

[wrinkly]

Press release:

https://news.gov.scot/news/inverness-li ... s-unveiled

Plans unveiled today for a new road in Inverness linking the A9 and A96 trunk roads will provide enhanced facilities for road users, cyclists and pedestrians.

These include a 3 metre shared surface on both sides of the carriageway and a dedicated cycleway and separate footway linking to Inverness Retail and Business Park. The cycling and pedestrian facilities will also connect into the existing core path, local path and national cycle networks.

At the same time, a decision has been taken to progress an option to the east of Ashton Farm (Variant B) as part of the preferred option identified late last year.

The plans for the A9/A96 Inshes to Smithton scheme are available for locals and road users to see at drop-ins being held in Raigmore today and Smithton tomorrow. Visitors can find out more about the developing design as we look to publish draft Orders next year.

Transport Minister Humza Yousaf said:

“As part of the Scottish Government’s commitment within the £315 million Inverness and Highland City-Region Deal, we are progressing our plans for a single carriageway road connecting Inshes and Smithton in the Highland capital.

“Since we identified the preferred option for the scheme late last year, our design consultants have been considering all the feedback received.

“We are now able to let locals and road users see and comment on the updated proposals including our exciting plans for enhanced provision for cyclists and pedestrians and the preferred route option with variant B confirmed as the line of the scheme to be taken forward.

“I would encourage anyone with an interest to come along to one of the venues to view our plans and to have an opportunity to discuss them with our team and provide vital feedback. The material shown at the drop-in sessions is also be available on the project page on the Transport Scotland website.”

Details of the public exhibitions:

Wednesday 16 May 2018 – 12 noon to 7 pm - Raigmore Community Centre, 125 Ashton Road, Inverness, IV2 3UY
Thursday 17 May 2018, 12 noon till 7pm - Smithton-Culloden Free Church, Murray Road, Smithton, Inverness, IV2 7YU

[Glen]

The recent exhibitions confirmed a few more details of the preferred route for the scheme. The option to the east of Ashton Farm has been selected for the route.

The existing overbridge at Inshes is to be retained with a parallel structure built on the south side to provide a new westbound carriageway.

Apparently there is enough room underneath to accommodate the third lane.

Most of the route is to have a 3m shared use path either side, apart from the link to the retail park which is to have a dedicated two-way cycle path next to the carriageway and separate footway,

[paully]

I'm not sure this is a great scheme. It might ease some of the traffic in and out of the retail park, but as a link from the A9 to the A96 it's dire. To go from A9 Northbound to A96 Eastbound you'll need to go through five roundabouts and two sets of traffic lights.

[Glen]

The purpose of the scheme is to remove some traffic from Raigmore Interchange. Much of that traffic is local movements, so this what the scheme is catering for.
Traffic going between A9 south and A96 will still use Raigmore.

[rachandsarai]

The recent exhibitions confirmed a few more details of the preferred route for the scheme. The option to the east of Ashton Farm has been selected for the route.

Inshes 1.jpg


The existing overbridge at Inshes is to be retained with a parallel structure built on the south side to provide a new westbound carriageway.


Inshes 2.JPG

Apparently there is enough room underneath to accommodate the third lane.

Most of the route is to have a 3m shared use path either side, apart from the link to the retail park which is to have a dedicated two-way cycle path next to the carriageway and separate footway,

It's got 3 lanes that go underneath the bridge on the southbound side. One for the slip road and the 2 for going to Perth. Think it's the same on the other side. 2 going to Thurso and Inverness and 1 for the slip road.

[Duncan macknight]

Off topic ever so slightly but a large bit of Barn Church road (the C something) has recently been dualled from the “to be built” roundabout for the A96 dualling up to the Smithton 40mph boundary. The roundabout end just suddenly stops and I imagine it will be upgraded in the future. The new carriageway isn’t open yet but white lines have appeared

[Glen]

The Barn Church Road widening is simply to provide access to the new Stratton development, via several signalled junctions.
As you say, the widening only goes as far as where the south roundabout of the dumbbell will be, which is somewhat ironic given the developer has submitted the single biggest objection to the Inverness to Nairn scheme.

[rachandsarai]

The Barn Church Road widening is simply to provide access to the new Stratton development, via several signalled junctions.
As you say, the widening only goes as far as where the south roundabout of the dumbbell will be, which is somewhat ironic given the developer has submitted the single biggest objection to the Inverness to Nairn scheme.

Is the widening going to be dualled or just made wider on a single carriageway?

[Duncan macknight]

The Barn Church Road widening is simply to provide access to the new Stratton development, via several signalled junctions.
As you say, the widening only goes as far as where the south roundabout of the dumbbell will be, which is somewhat ironic given the developer has submitted the single biggest objection to the Inverness to Nairn scheme.

Is the widening going to be dualled or just made wider on a single carriageway?

dualled

[rachandsarai]

The Barn Church Road widening is simply to provide access to the new Stratton development, via several signalled junctions.
As you say, the widening only goes as far as where the south roundabout of the dumbbell will be, which is somewhat ironic given the developer has submitted the single biggest objection to the Inverness to Nairn scheme.

Is the widening going to be dualled or just made wider on a single carriageway?

dualled

Thanks Duncan

[Glen]

Meanwhile, it seems the bus and NMU link between the campus and the retail park is to be built soon.
The site is fenced off by the contractor (although no construction work yet) and there is a pending planning application for the road.

https://wam.highland.gov.uk/wam/applica ... GPXIH0F300

[rachandsarai]

Meanwhile, it seems the bus and NMU link between the campus and the retail park is to be built soon.
The site is fenced off by the contractor (although no construction work yet) and there is a pending planning application for the road.

https://wam.highland.gov.uk/wam/applica ... GPXIH0F300

18_04634_RCC-LOCATION_PLAN-1629453-1.jpg
18_04634_RCC-PROPOSED_ROAD_MARKINGS_AND_SIGNAGE-1629452-1.jpg
18_04634_RCC-ROAD_GENERAL_ARRANGEMENT-1629448-1.jpg

Is the bus and NMU link ,which I'm not sure what that means, is like no buses allowed in that area?

[GrahameCase]

Is the bus and NMU link ,which I'm not sure what that means, is like no buses allowed in that area?

NMU stands for non motorised user - this means the link road that Glen linked to is for buses and non motorised traffic only - eg bikes, pedestrians, tandems, trikes, quadricycles. Anything without an engine