A north-east street that has been open to traffic for more than two years could face restrictions once again amid safety fears.
Vehicles have been allowed to use Chapel Street in Peterhead since November 2016 after a 15-year ban was lifted.
The one-way system was part of a two-year trial with Aberdeenshire Council introducing a 20mph speed limit and bollards at the edge of footpaths for safety.
However, a blanket ban is one of the options being considered by members of the Buchan area committee.
Councillors will be asked to approve the establishment of a new working group to decide on the reintroduction of the previous restrictions.
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A report by the council’s infrastructure chief Stephen Archer contains a series of responses from different groups with an interest in traffic around Chapel Street.
Peterhead Community Council told Aberdeenshire Council that they thought the town centre had become a “free for all.”
The report stated: “The community council feels that, due to the opening of Chapel Street it has made the town centre unsafe to pedestrians as members of the public think the whole town centre is a free for all.
“Pedestrians don’t know where within the town centre roads are safe to walk on as they have always known this area to be pedestrianised, in particular Marischal Street and around Drummers Corner.”
The local authority’s own road service confirmed there had been an increase in traffic using Marischal Street to access Chapel Street, causing damage to street furniture and leading to the inappropriate use of loading and disabled bays.
The report also highlighted that the road had become blocked on some occasions because of parked cars and waiting buses.
It said: “We have seen an increase in all vehicle types parking on Chapel Street and Marischal Street as a result of opening this up to traffic.
“A particular concern is vehicles parked on Chapel Street unattended meaning at times the street is blocked when buses are parked at the bus stop.”
Police said motorists were continuing to ignore parking restrictions with 10 tickets handed out since the traffic restriction was lifted.
The report said this had “no lasting effect” on parking behaviour because some drivers were still breaking the rules and had more than one ticket given to them.
Members of the Buchan area committee meet in Peterhead today to discuss the findings.
