Council find traffic fix to prevent vehicles striking Johnshaven homes

Bollards will be placed on a Johnshaven street in a bid to stop vehicles from repeatedly striking homes.

Residents of Seaview Terrace had raised the matter with Aberdeenshire Council a few years ago.

They explained that lorries often hit the two houses sitting at the tight turn on the end of the short stretch of road from Back Road.

READ MORE: Driver who killed man in horror double crash in Aberdeenshire jailed for four years

READ MORE: Victorian church turned B&B in Ballater wins Scotland's Bed and Breakfast of the Year award

The issue was so bad, it was forcing homeowners to fork out thousands of pounds for repair work.

While some temporary barriers had been put in place by the local authority, they weren’t enough to stop the problem.

So, the council’s road chiefs decided to take action to protect the homes once and for all.

They came up with four potential options using feedback from Benholm and Johnshaven Community Council and letters from residents.

They were:

• A one way system

• Bollards

• Bollards with a height, weight or length restriction

• One way system with bollards

Residents living around Seaview Terrace voiced their support for the bollards on their own as they believed that would act as a deterrent.

But, the council’s roads officers believed bollards with a one way system would be the best solution.

The matter recently went before the Kincardine and Mearns area committee.

Resident Michael Bennett spoke at the meeting on behalf of his frustrated neighbours and the community council.

He told the committee that the turn made it difficult for some larger vans and lorries to access the street without hitting homes on the corner.

“This has resulted in some vehicles hitting two properties or getting stuck which requires reversing,” Mr Bennett explained.

He told the chamber that the owner of one of the affected properties put up his own barriers which have been hit over the years.

“Bollards alone won’t stop long vehicles from coming down Seaview Terrace, but it will stop them hitting the buildings which is the main issue.”

Councillor George Carr backed the call for bollards as he reckoned it “might just do the job”.

He added: “If necessary, we can look at this again if this isn’t the solution…but it will fix this for the time being.”

The committee went on to approve the bollards, but asked for a report on how successful the measure is in a year’s time.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Bennett said the decision was exactly what residents had been asking for.

He also noted that the bollard in place at the moment was “just good for hanging your coat on”.

Mr Bennett added: “We wanted a simple solution but the bollards need to be correctly placed.

“It won’t stop people going down there, but it will stop the buildings from being hit.”