Murthly man waiting for Kinclaven Bridge answers from Perth and Kinross Council

Dec 4 2009 by Katy Gordon, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

A MURTHLY man has been waiting months for Perth and Kinross Council to respond to his concerns about a Perthshire bridge.

Graeme Hunter contacted the Perthshire Advertiser after an e-mail he sent in AUGUST went unanswered.

In the e-mail he voices his opinions about the Kinclaven Bridge, near Meikleour, which he regularly uses.

He claims that often cars have to reverse to allow lorries across and suggests that traffic lights may help alleviate the problem.

He said: “The recent events in Cumbria brought the bridge back to my mind, because it did make me think it could happen up here.

“There is heavy traffic going across that bridge and it is only wide enough for two ordinary cars to get past each other. Even a 4x4 and a car would struggle.

“And in the summer, tour buses use that road to get back to Perth.

“It is dangerous because people have to reverse back to make way for the bigger vehicles.”

Mr Hunter also explained that on two separate occasions he has had his wing mirrors clipped trying to move out of the way of oncoming vehicles.

“And if you look at the bridge walls, you can see evidence of where cars or lorries have scraped past.”

A spokesperson for the council said: "The council would like to apologise for not having responded yet to Mr Hunter's query. We will be in touch with him soon.

“What we can advise is that we have carried out a number of surveys in recent years on the bridge and traffic flow and these have so far not identified any major issues which would require the introduction of new road safety measures.

“However, we plan to undertake a further survey shortly to re-assess the bridge and traffic volumes and will also be looking at what measures, for example traffic lights, may be appropriate if the survey identifies any significant issues.”