Castle Douglas is ‘fighting back’ against potential major road changes
Nearly half of the town has signed the petition.
Last updated 21st Feb 2024
A woman from Castle Douglas has created a petition to ‘fight back’ over new drafts planning to replace a roundabout for a four-way junction.
The new plans designed by council consultants Stantec, is proposing to remove the free-flowing roundabout and replace it with a four-way junction managed by six traffic lights controlling traffic from Ernespie Road, Queen Street, King Street and Oakwell Road.
It’s only King Street that doesn’t have a pedestrian crossing, but each set of lights will feature a cycle lane.
With funding from SWestrans, Dumfries and Galloway Council commissioned Stantec to carry out a feasibility study, engagement with the community and create designs for a north active travel gateway into the town.
The £3.7 million construction which is expected to be funded by the Scottish Government will see the removal of trees on the green, however, the war memorial is to stay and become part of a new “public space”.
Residents are left feeling that their opinions and needs have been overlooked so Tammi Kirk, one of the locals, has taken it upon herself to make up a petition opposing these plans.
“The petition is to say that we do not agree with the current proposal. We launched this a week ago and we now have 1,600 signatures already. We are not going down without a fight.”
What businesses are saying
Other local businesses are opposing it as well and worry it’ll have a negative impact on the town.
Paul from P&A Motors whose garage is facing the roundabout says:
“It’s going to impact some of the businesses in the town definitely, especially for my business here for people coming in and exiting the petrol station. I just can’t see how it’s going to work, it’s a crazy idea if you ask me.
“It’s just going to make a crazy bit of congestion, that’s all it’s going to do. The way it is just now is working fine. Signs and lines is all we need, everyone in the town knows that!”
It'll cause a bottleneck
Councillor Ian Howie backed this and said:
“We’re hugely concerned. We have a perfectly functioning roundabout which is going to be replaced with a crossroad governed by traffic lights. It’ll cause a bottle neck; it’ll separate one part of the town from the other and will be hugely inconvenient for all the residents of the town.”
Councillor John Young added:
“Six sets of traffic lights: you’re going to get frustration; you’re going to get cars sitting idling emitting carbon into the atmosphere. I don’t understand why they want to replace something that works well.”
Paul also highlighted in an interview with Greatest Hits Radio that this part of the town has play parks near the roundabout that children use often so that’s another concern to have with the build-up of traffic:
“There’s a couple of play areas around the corner from this park here and the kids use this a lot. You’ll see them come out on their wee walks and they come by here a lot, so we don’t need anymore traffic coming right past here.”
Councillors Pauline Drysdale is also against this design and doesn’t see how this will benefit everyone:
“In Castle Douglas, we have one of the most thriving towns at present with three butchers and a awful lot of successful shops. We do not see that this new system would help people coming in from further afield because it’s virtually impossible to cycle from as afar afield as New Galloway for example, so I think we’re gravely concerned about that.
“We do not have the bus infrastructure. Whilst we’re very supportive of active travel, we don’t think it’ll work.”
The Castle Douglas Active Travel Project came about after comments were made on the development of the community street audit in 2017.
She continued to say that the designers should look at the bigger picture other than cyclists and be more inclusive, especially as this town has an aging population:
“We very much feel that we’re all in support, all three councillors, of more accessible pedestrian crossings and we are absolutely advocating dropped kerbs because we really feel that our disabled and infirm users who are walking do deserve those safer crossings so we are in favour of that.”
Although no final plans or decisions have been finalised, the town’s Local Place Plan Team is to receive a full report, consulate with the public and businesses and come to a full agreement on whether to accept or reject the roundabout proposal.