Campaigners hoping to see traffic calming measures installed at a busy route at Blairdrummond have been given a glimmer of hope by councillors.
Christine Bauer and Gabriella Ingle have petitioned Stirling Council over the A873 at Burnbank and Coldoch.
They are asking the council to “fully review the changed traffic situation” and introduce traffic calming measures and conduct a review of speed limits to improve the safety of road users.
Members of Stirling Council’s environment, housing and net zero committee last week agreed to defer a decision on the petition and asked council officers to come back with more detailed data which had been omitted from their report.
The officers had wanted the councillors to agree to retain the existing speed limit and conclude the petition process, saying accident data had shown there had been only two slight injury accidents on the section of road in more than a decade.
However, the committee members felt they could not give proper consideration of the issue without full view of the missing information.
The A873 is the main distributor road to Thornhill and then joins with the A81 to Port of Menteith and Aberfoyle with routes off it to Doune and Callander. The section of the A873 from its junction with the A84 to the junction of the B8031 Coldoch Road is a rural road subject to the national speed limit of 60mph and just short of one mile long.
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There are 20 residential properties on or accessed from this section of the A873 and a further three commercial
properties.
Speaking to the committee, the petitioners said while official statistics may only record certain levels of accident, a host of accidents had taken place at the spot including cars hitting telephone poles, and the lack of any serious injury was merely fortunate.
They said the route was used not only by cars but by tourist coaches, HGVs, timber lorries, double decker buses and “motorbikes in huge volumes” and people looking for the popular Smiddy coffee shop.
There were also particular concerns for local children who got on and off the bus to school.
Mrs Bauer said: “Most [of the road users] don’t know this area, although the speed they are driving at would suggest otherwise.”
More than half of the 83 people living within the defined area had signed the petition.
“Road traffic and the style of driving does not allow for children to wait at the side of the road for school buses,” added Mrs Bauer. “So many parents have now decided to drive their children to school.
“Stirling Council officers, when they did their survey, will not have seen children or people cycling because it is simply too dangerous.
“Other rural roads have signs requesting people slow down because there are red squirrels.”
Mrs Bauer said the residents living in and by the A873 requested that Stirling Council introduce further village signs - there is just one at The Smiddy - along with rumble strips and other measures.
She described how over the last year alone there had been three telegraph poles knocked down within months of each other, a stationary car rear ended and a van had gone into a field. A lorry went through a fence three or four years ago and a car had ended up in a garden five years ago.
The council’s head of environment and place Dot Reid said a survey carried out had shown that average speeds were in keeping with the environment and all aspects having been considered fully no changes were justified or required.
A Safer Route to School was not suitable at the spot, however she said: “Obviously there are risks there when children are crossing that road. Parents and guardians can manage that risk through accompanying their children to cross that road while waiting for the school buses and when they alight the school bus so it’s important that parents plan their role there whilst teaching children how to cross a road.
“But we can potentially look at erecting some signage.”
Councillor Martin Earl suggested the matter be deferred to bring forward further information, saying: “I know this location well. The petitioners are supported by the community council and this has been a standard item on their agenda for a number of years.”
