Work to cut the number of crashes on one of Fife’s busiest routes could begin within months.
A range of safety measures is to be considered for the A915 Standing Stane Road, which connects Kirkcaldy with Levenmouth and the East Neuk.
The need for action was illustrated on Tuesday as the road was the scene of two accidents in quick succession.
A car is understood to have left the road and hit a pole at around 2pm.
Soon afterwards two cars, a Ford Focus and Audi A3, collided, possibly as a consequence of the initial accident.
Police closed the busy stretch while fire and ambulance crews attended to the occupants of the vehicles.
They were taken to hospital as a precaution, but none of the injuries were said to be serious.
The new work could include engineering measures, signs and non-slip surfaces.
Several roads across the region were investigated by Fife Council’s transportation service and the Standing Stane Road was found to have had a higher than average number of incidents.
Moves to address the issue have been welcomed by Levenmouth councillors, who receive complaints about bottlenecks every time there is a crash.
Many of them have called for better traffic management during an incident, claiming Levenmouth is effectively cut off when the road is blocked.
Councillor David Graham said villages often could not cope with the levels of diverted traffic and the entire area came to a standstill.
“A few weeks ago I was going to a meeting in Kirkcaldy and there was an accident on the Standing Stane Road,” he said.
“The council closed the road at Muiredge and diverted traffic through the Wemyss villages.
“We all trooped down Percival Road at 9am to the Buck and Hynd pub but nobody could get out that junction.
“Within 10 minutes the traffic was backed right up to the Standing Stane Road and I sat in that queue of traffic for the best part of 20 minutes.”
Fellow councillor Andrew Rodger said it was not just accidents which caused problems.
“Just recently we had Scottish Water digging up the Standing Stane Road without telling anyone,” he said.
“At the same time, the council was resurfacing the main road through Coaltown of Wemyss and diverting traffic to the Standing Stane and it just caused chaos.
“If people can’t get to Kirkcaldy or Levenmouth it’s not good for business.”
Levenmouth chief inspector Adrian Annandale agreed that traffic management following an accident was important.
“Diversion often becomes of lesser importance yet it is quite important because you need to make sure you’re not channelling vehicles through communities which can’t cope with the volume of traffic,” he said.
“I’m acutely aware of the impact it can have on communities when we’re firing buses and HGVs through villages.”
Fife Council’s area manager for Levenmouth, Dave Paterson, said a report on safety measures for the Standing Stane Road would be put before councillors in January.
“We’re talking to transportation about it at the moment,” he said. “Transportation have done an overview of a number of roads in Fife and the Standing Stane has come out quite high regarding accident and incident issues.
“We don’t have any detail at the moment but the proposals coming forward will probably be some form of engineering measures or signage and non-slip surfaces.
“The proposals will hopefully come to members fully formed in January for a decision and we expect work to start some time in the next financial year.”