Road bosses at Aberdeenshire Council were left red-faced after tearing up a set of traffic lights – only to replace them in exactly the same spot.
The Kirk Street crossing in Peterhead’s town-centre was due to be upgraded and moved to a new position as part of plans for the new council headquarters opening nearby this month.
However, following a safety audit, officers deemed it would be unsafe to take the safety features closer to the busy junction with the town’s St Peter Street.
And this week workmen were back on site – installing new traffic lights in the same location as before.
Kirk Street resident Stephen Calder uses the crossing every day, and said it was a surprise turnaround.
“The council had announced that the pedestrian crossing at Kirk Street was to be moved nearer to the junction with St Peter Street, close to the new Buchan Area offices,” he said.
“Last week the traffic lights were removed. Today workmen were busy putting in new traffic lights back in the same place.”
Buchan House – which is due to open in a matter of weeks – will bring together a host of council departments under one roof in the north-east’s biggest town and is expected to house about 200 employees.
Concerns have been raised about an increase in pedestrians crossing the busy roads nearby and in January the local authority’s roads chief Philip McKay said the traffic lights on Kirk Street had reached the end of their “useful life” and would be moved to “meet changing pedestrian needs”.
Last night Mr McKay said: “During the initial design works, consideration was given to moving the crossing on Kirk Street nearer to the junction with St Peter Street.
“However, following a safety audit of the design proposals, a decision was made to put the new puffin crossing in the same location as the existing pelican crossing, thus avoiding potential conflict with turning traffic at the junction.”
The main difference between a puffin crossing and the previous system is that there is no flashing amber light allowing motorists to proceed if the way is clear, which is safer for pedestrians.
Aberdeenshire Council anticipate the new crossing will be operational within a fortnight.
