Scottish Water work on Nairn road to take about nine weeks

Scottish Water says work to upgrade a sewer in Nairn is due to start on 5 October and will require traffic management measures for about nine weeks.

Temporary four-way traffic lights are to be set up at the town's Loch Loy/A96 junction from 07:00 to 19:00 seven days a week.

Scottish Water said its contractor would be able to take manual control of the lights if necessary to maintain traffic flow and minimise delays.

Nairn Improvement Community Enterprise (Nice) said it had suggested alternative sites for the work and has raised concerns about the A96 and other roads becoming gridlocked.

Scottish Water said the £3.4m project involves work on a storm overflow chamber and sewer pipeline in the Lochloy Road area would bring "important improvements" and avoid having to set up roadworks on the nearby A96.

Roads company Amey will carry out an upgrade to traffic lights at the junction between 19 October and 13 November.

Scottish Water said it had carefully reviewed options for its project, including two that were put forward by Nice.

A spokesperson said: "Our project is essential to improve the environment in Nairn, upgrading the waste water system to help prevent sewer-related debris entering the River Nairn at times of heavy rainfall.

"We have engaged extensively with key stakeholders and the wider community in the course of preparing our project plans."

Nice said it believed the upgrade would bring "marginal" environmental benefits and there were less disruptive options for where the work could take place.

It said Nairn faced "total gridlock".

A spokesperson said: "What the community has experienced from Scottish Water is a fait accompli - it's our way or the highway.

"This is not early community engagement and collaboration, nor is it by any stretch of the imagination 'empowering communities to participate in local decisions which impact them and their area' – not by our definition."