Elgin’s new traffic management proposals were formed from the ashes of a controversial roads scheme which was scrapped following years of heated debate.
Council leaders claimed that the creation of a Western Link Road, featuring an additional crossing over the town’s railway line, was the ideal way to free up busy roads around the town.
But residents along Wittet Drive and Edgar Road lashed out at the proposal, which they feared would send the traffic past their homes.
Opposition councillors also rounded on the £11.8million development, which was finally aborted in March when the dire state of the authority’s finances was laid bare.
However, the council’s transport department had already diverted £3.65million into the project by that point.
Unwilling to let that work go to waste, elected members decided to incorporate elements of its groundwork into the new approach.
The cost of developing the £100,000 strategy would have been more than double that amount if it was not for the extensive studies that had gone into developing the Western Link Road before it.
And a report outlining the new measures to councillors explains that almost £1million worth of developer obligations pledged towards the Western Link Road could help pay for some proposed work.
More than £652,000 can be used to alleviate issues at Sheriffmill Road, Edgar Road and the Laichmoray Hotel roundabout.
Almost £150,000 can be used to improve the network around Ashgrove Road and East Road, and £65,000 put forward for the ill-fated scheme can now be spent on upgrading the roundabout at Hay Street and South Street.
Transportation manager, Nicola Moss, said the cash was “time-limited”, and that some funds would have to be spent by April 2018 or be returned to the developer.
She added: “These sums have the potential to be used towards these traffic interventions.
“Officers believe they can be used before their expiry dates, to deliver our core package.”
