Skye and Lochalsh residents urged to help shape transport future

Skye and Lochalsh householders will soon be asked to play a role in a major survey that will inform transport policy for the whole island network and Highland mainland over the coming decades.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), together with the Highlands and Islands Regional Transport Partnership (HITRANS), has asked consultants to find out what effect the Skye bridge has had on the island since its installation 10 years ago.

Edinburgh-based Derek Halden Consultancy and the Institute of Transport Studies at Leeds University have been commissioned to undertake the work. As well as a questionnaire sent to every household in Skye and Lochalsh, there will be roadside surveys at the bridge; business and tourist sampling, and close monitoring of all transport links on and off the island.

Results will be compared with those recorded in surveys conducted before the bridge was built. The findings will be used to help agencies examine the case for building further fixed links in the Highlands and Islands, which may ultimately include the Sound of Harris and Sound of Barra, plus links between the Western Isles and Skye, and Orkney and Caithness.

As well as charting travel patterns of tourists, residents, businesses and freight, the research will investigate any economic displacement caused by the bridge, impacts on personal income and lifestyle, population and in-migration, and the implications for improved ferry links between Skye and the Western Isles. The short-term impact of removing the bridge tolls will also be evaluated.

HIE transport policy manager Tony Jarvis said: "It's an important piece of research for Skye and Lochalsh which will enable us to learn much about social and economic changes over the last 10 years and the role that improved transport links have played. I would encourage people to participate fully in the work so that the findings are as accurate as possible."

The surveys, which started this month, will run until August with the findings scheduled for publication in October.