Sustrans to fill in missing links on flagship cycle route

Work on the missing Sustrans link at Ledaig should be finished by the end of this year.

 

Ardchattan community councillors meeting on Thursday heard the work is due to start later this month now that the contract has been awarded to McGowan.

 

A three-metre corridor will be created and will pass through the nearby caravan site towards Benderloch as part of the national cycling network Route 78.

 

Parents whose children use the route to get to Lochnell Primary School are to be warned it might have to be temporarily shut while some of the work is carried out.

 

The tender is also now complete for the route's Duror to Ballachulish link and that should be finished by summer 2019.

 

Once all that work is completed, Sustrans will review the existing route to make sure it is up to the same standards, the community council was told.

 

However, the meeting heard there had been 'no scope' in the current Ledaig project to provide a link to it from Moss Road.

 

New Sustrans employee Pat Douglas was at the meeting and introduced her 18-month post's remit  to 'drive up' cycle tourism along the Route 78 Caledonian Way.

 

She said it was Sustran's 'flagship route' and her work would include working with businesses and communities to make the most of having the route on their doorstep - and to let cyclists know what opportunities exist in the area.

 

'We're hoping to have community-led events along the route, other spin-offs and day rides off the route so people will stop and discover the area rather than just pass through. There's huge potential for it,' she said.

 

A new website for Route 78 will be launched in the new year hosted by VisitScotland.