Drivers in Inverness have been experiencing shorter weekday journeys since new traffic light timings were trialled at a busy city roundabout.
But there have been longer waits at weekends since the new settings were introduced at the Longman Roundabout.
New figures show an overall reduction, with evening peak journey times cut by nine minutes and morning commutes reduced by just more than a minute.
But figures for the weekends show an increase of just under three minutes during the trial.
Transport Scotland changed the timings at the end of the summer in response to concerns about traffic delays.
Transport Scotland’s operating company manager Jonny Moran said: “We want our trunk road network to be as efficient as possible to help road users get to where they need to be and to support local businesses.
“The new traffic light timings at the Longman roundabout have helped improve the balance in the operation of the junction and delivered shorter journey times.
“The green light time has now been more evenly allocated between the arms of the roundabout and drivers are on the move more often, with less time spent waiting for the lights to change.
“Now that we are seeing an improvement in the peak driving hours we will look to see if this can be replicated at other times.”
Councillor Allan Henderson, chairman of Highland Council’s Community Services Committee, said: “We welcome Transport Scotland’s endeavours to help the flow of traffic through our city and look forward to a positive outcome.”
Highlands and Islands Labour MSP David Stewart said: “Certainly there has been immense dissatisfaction from local drivers about the lights at Longman Roundabout and the irony was that, when there was a technical fault there and the lights were not working, all the traffic moved more quickly.
“It’s a bit of an anomaly on the slightly longer weekend time but I would certainly welcome a reduction in commuting times.
“In the longer term there will be a City Deal upgrade to the junction, but we need to take traffic off this roundabout and having a park and ride either side of the city, certainly at Tore, would allow high frequency buses to take drivers to major employers. particularly in the east of the city.”
Meanwhile, motorists have also been warned by the council of a temporary road closure tomorrow in the Crown area of the city. Part of MacEwen Drive, from its junction with Kingsmills Road, will be closed from 9.30am-3pm for Scottish Water contractors to carry out maintenance.
