SNP ministers have been urged to pledge cash to help tackle Elgin’s gridlock nightmare.
With the town rapidly expanding, local authority leader, George Alexander, claimed the council was trapped in a “Catch 22” situation between developing it to boost its economy and keeping traffic moving.
During the last month, property firms have lodged proposals to construct 4,600 homes around Elgin in the coming decades.
Councillor Alexander fears that contributions from those companies will only go so far towards paying for road improvements.
And he has admitted the authority is in no position to fund the £30million package of improvements that transport officers have suggested would alleviate congestion.
The independent councillor believes the Scottish Government must intervene to prevent traffic from grinding to a halt in Moray’s largest town.
He said: “There is no way that developer obligations will cover the cost of all the measures needed, but asking firms for more money might make these plans financially unviable for them.
“We can’t simply stagnate, we need to develop Elgin’s economy and we can’t do that without extra housing.
“Moray’s population is going up, more people are wanting to live here.
“That is why we have to look to the Scottish Government, who are pushing the idea of building houses and encouraging economic growth.
“We need to talk with ministers about that, as we need to keep traffic going while we are still growing Elgin.”
It is understood that developers pay approximately £6,000 to the local authority for each house built in the area.
If all 4,600 homes are built by 2045 as planned, then the council will recoup £27.6million by that point.
But much of that money will be spent on creating schools and other amenities.
And Mr Alexander added “urgent intervention” was required to tackle congestion in Elgin – with some parts of the town “already beyond saturation point”.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said Transport Scotland experts had assisted the council with developing its transport strategy.
But she added it was “up to individual councils to manage their budgets”.
