Picture by Willie Urquhart
Parents and community leaders in Plockton are calling for urgent road safety measures after three “near misses” involving children walking to school.
They say there is a serious accident waiting to happen as youngsters try to negotiate the hazardous narrow railway road bridge between the Burnside housing estate and the school.
Three young children were recently endangered by a very large tour bus entering Plockton on the bridge which is blind and has no pavement.
In another incident, a parent was almost hit by a vehicle as she crossed the bridge to collect her children, and there have been other nasty scares.
Plockton primary pupils were temporarily relocated to the local high school in March because their Highland Council-maintained building is in disrepair and unfit for learning in.
Previously, they were driven by parents from Burnside to their primary school in the village, but as their homes are only around 100 metres away from the high school, those pupils are now walking.
It means more and younger children are crossing the bridge and back each day – around 16 pupils, nine of them primary school age.
Burnside resident Amy Ottway walks her two children, aged six and eight, to school each day. But Ms Ottway, who works in the high school, said the railway bridge is dangerous for adults, far less young children.
She explained: “What happens is the vehicles come round the bridge corner very close to the edge, as it’s a narrow two-way carriageway, but that’s where the pedestrians are.
“Tourists are not expecting to see people on the bridge as there is no pavement, and some people drive too fast.
“The bridge is being used a lot more since the relocation of the primary pupils to the high school and it’s only a matter of time before a vehicle gets too close to a child and hits them, or a child runs out. It’s extremely worrying.”
Another parent who did not want to be named said: “I drive that way and a number of times I have come round the corner and there are children on the bridge, some accompanied some not, and they are very vulnerable. As a driver it doesn’t feel safe.
“The other day I watched a delivery lorry pull out and go over the bridge at speed and I thought if there was a child or a parent on the bridge they would not have survived it.
“There is not even a sign there saying ‘Slow – children’ and sometimes youngsters are plugged in to their devices so they don’t always hear traffic approaching.”
Plockton Community Council contacted Highland Council last summer, seeking safety improvements on the route in anticipation of the pupils’ move to the high school, and has been pressing for action since.
Community council chairman Peter MacKenzie said: “A council engineer reviewed the area and submitted a report to the council in September last year, but the community has heard absolutely nothing officially since.
“There have been three near misses with pedestrians on the railway bridge and a child nearly got hit. Thankfully nobody has been injured but the railway bridge crossing is an accident waiting to happen.
“Our local councillor Biz Campbell always reacts and supports on our behalf. But obviously Highland Council gave little or no consideration to the safety of children when deciding to transfer primary school to the high school campus.”
Councillor Campbell said: “I have had phone calls from worried parents in Burnside and I have taken it up as a matter of urgency with our officials. It’s a very dangerous situation for children especially with the amount of traffic in Plockton. This is something that needs action now.”
A Highland Council spokesperson said: “The council is aware of the challenges to create a safer route across the railway bridge in Plockton. Interim safety measures are being reviewed while the council explores longer term solutions.”
BY JACKIE MACKENZIE
jackie.mackenzie@whfp.com