South Ayrshire Council
Development, Safety and Regulation
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Burns Statue Square,
Ayr KA7 1UT

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The Scottish Executive, have commissioned Amey Infrastructure Services (AIS), to carry out design works for A77 Ardwell to Slockenray

On 13th December 2004, details of the scheme were received for comment.

An improved alignment is proposed from Ardwell Farm to Kennedys’ Pass.

There are three sections:-

1) An easing of the tight bend at Ardwell Farm, shifting the road into the sea and forming a standard width road with metre strips

2) Provision of approximately 750metres of ‘2+1’ road layout, which will provide two dedicated lanes for northbound traffic, similar to the new layout at Turnberry.

3) An easing of the tight bend at Kennedys’ Pass, shifting the road into the rock face and forming a standard width road with metre strips.

South Ayrshire Council comments are -

General

The draft Route Action Plan Firm Strategy Report for the A77 : Ayr to Stranraer prepared by South Ayrshire Council and Dumfries and Galloway for the Scottish Executive in October 1997, recommended that the road be widened to standard width and metre strips added.

The proposed scheme shown requires a substantially wider road in an area of very restricted available width due to the topography and the presence of an SSSI. Impact on the environment could be severe.

In general however, the works are considered to be of benefit.

Local Plan

South Ayrshire Council’s Planning Section, have responded separately, detailing SAC’s Planning Policies and Constraints.

Biodiversity

Please consider the Ayrshire Local Biodiversity Action Plan which aims include conserving South Ayrshire’s local biodiversity and safeguarding the natural environment. Specific comments can be made on the details of landscaping / biodiversity proposals when they are available.

Lighting

As this is a remote rural area, it is considered that this proposal must not include any road lighting for the reasons listed below.

1. With the correct road markings and advance signing, there would be very little benefit gained from lighting the junctions in this scheme.
2. The additional electrical load associated with any lighting would contribute to the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere.
3. Any lighting would produce "sky-glow" and "light pollution" in an inherently dark area.

Cleansing

Issues that would affect SAC’s cleansing service include

• any additional areas of carriageway, footway or verge which will require to be cleansed, and notification of this would be appreciated,
• any alteration including the creation or removal of lay-bys – eg SAC would require to remove any euro-bins and enclosure prior to the removal of the layby
• additional kerbing,
• loose stone in edge drainage etc

There are also concerns regarding possible difficulties sweeping a 2+1 road layout. It is understood that there may be a metre strip between solid white lines in the middle of the carriageway. As this strip would not normally be trafficked, a build up of detritus may be expected. A satisfactory procedure to sweep this area has not been identified. There is no experience of the maintenance regime required for this road layout.

Environmental Health

Environmental Health requests that cognisance be given to the impact any works may have on local residents ie nuisance from noise, dust or vibration.

Roads Issues

There are effectively three parts to the proposed scheme.

The improvements to the substandard bends at each end would improve the flow of traffic.

There may require to be further consultation regarding a short section of access road to be detrunked, which may become the responsibility of South Ayrshire Council.

The third part of the scheme proposal appears to be the provision of dedicated overtaking for one direction only, and prohibits other overtaking.

The scheme identified in the draft Route Action Plan proposed widening the existing road to allow overtaking on an opportunistic basis in both directions.

The proposed layout may be considered to be likely to lead to an increase in driver frustration, and may lead to enforcement problems.

With a low AADF of around 4,000 and excellent forward visibility on a level straight road, it may be considered that the driver of a vehicle stuck behind a slow moving vehicle from Girvan to Ardwell, and aware that there will be no other overtaking opportunity till Bennane, will find it difficult to appreciate why overtaking is prohibited should there be no oncoming traffic visible.