Time is running out to finish this major Inverness transport project – but does the city really need it anyway?

The clock is ticking for a £95m project to cut congestion at one of Inverness’s busiest junctions.

Plans to build a flyover at the Longman roundabout have been in the pipeline since being included as part of the £315m city and region deal that was agreed in 2017.

But while other projects in the deal have either been completed or are ticking along nicely, progress appears to have stalled at the Longman.

A key stipulation of the city deal – which is being funded by the UK government, the Scottish government and Highland Council – is that its projects must be delivered within 10 years.

Since the deal was signed in March 2017, that leaves a little over three years to get this one over the line.

Transport Scotland remain committed to Longman flyover

That seems a tall order given the slow pace we’ve seen with other major infrastructure projects in the Highlands.

The broken promise to dual the A9 between Inverness and Perth by 2025 doesn’t exactly fill the north with confidence that it will be getting what it’s promised.

The new commitment to finish the dualling project by 2035 comes with a £3.7bn price tag.

Will that mean that other costly projects will be kicked down the road? We don’t know yet.

Officially though, it’s business as usual.

When asked about how and when the Longman flyover will be completed, a spokesman for Transport Scotland said it was not possible to offer a date.

But the Scottish Government remains committed to completing it.

He added: “We continue to progress the detailed development and assessment of the preferred option for the A9/A82 Longman junction scheme.

“Delivery of the scheme can then only commence once approved under the relevant statutory procedures. Thereafter, a timetable for further progress can be set.”

Can the city deal be extended?

The chances of the project being finished within three years seem slim.

But the good news is that there is the prospect of an extension.

A proposal to build a link road to Aberdeen Harbour is one part of the Granite City’s deal that will not be completed within 10 years.

According to Aberdeenshire Council, discussions have taken place with the UK and Scottish governments to extend that window.

You can’t get more exceptional circumstances than what we’ve all been through since 2017.

The pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis and spiralling inflation have all played a part.

Construction costs have ballooned too.

Transport Scotland is not publicly disclosing an updated estimate for the Longman flyover.

But you can safely assume it has climbed steadily from the £85m to £95m that was quoted in 2017.

Would spending that money have public support as Highland schools crumble?

Will the Longman flyover be worth it?

That brings us to the elephant in the room for this project.

The Longman roundabout was once a byword for bottlenecks in Inverness.

Its traffic lights were hated on both sides of the Black Isle for a number of years.

But these days, it doesn’t actually seem that bad.

A recent poll by the Press and Journal to find the worst roundabout in Inverness put the Longman in third place.

But it only got 3.6% of the vote, falling well behind Shore Street and Inshes.

Has that hate dwindled because of the long-awaited change in the traffic light sequencing?

Or perhaps it’s down to a less chaotic rush hour, thanks to changing post-Covid work habits?

Whatever it is, on the south side of the Kessock Bridge it doesn’t seem to merit as much of a mention these days.

‘We don’t see as many traffic jams as we used to get’

Inverness city leader Ian Brown acknowledges the project might not represent value for money anymore.

But the new jobs and housing expected to come from the Cromarty Firth freeport boom might mean that it will be worth its weight in gold.

“I am still supporting it,” councillor Brown said. “I don’t want to be calling for cancelling anything in Inverness.

“If we see a lot of expansion around the Cromarty Firth, the A9 will get busier.

“But we don’t see as many traffic jams there as we used to get. The biggest risk to it [not happening] is: do we really need it now?

“The traffic figures will have to be looked at to decide if it’s value for money.

“But we also don’t want to lose that money, that’s for sure. If Transport Scotland said ‘we’re not doing it’, we’d be looking to divert it somewhere else.”

For more Inverness news and updates, join our local Facebook group.