Only months after three speed bumps were laid in a Cupar residential area, Fife Council now plans to tear them up as part of major road resurfacing work.
It has set aside £175,000 to carry out improvements to Westfield Road, Westfield Avenue and West Park Road locations where “speed tables” were introduced over the summer to encourage drivers to stick to the 20mph limit.
The council’s reasoning behind carrying out this work at this time has been questioned by some residents who argue that the road safety measures should have followed the resurfacing works.
With deep cuts in public spending looming, the authority has conceded it is “unfortunate” all three of the speed tables will be dug up but Mark Dewar, lead officer of design and construction north, argued the latest scheme will prove good value overall.
“Transportation services budget is sub-divided across a number of different teams and as a result of a recent projected underspend within one of those teams additional funding was transferred to the north area team,” he said.
“This funding has now been allocated to three carriageway projects in Cupar which, although they were approved for this year’s area transportation services works programme, had been deferred until next financial year due to increased costs on other schemes in Fife.”
On Saturday work will begin at Westfield Road and be completed in two stages.
The first stage will mean the closure of the junctions at the south end of West Park Road and Westfield Avenue, which will become two-way for residents during the contract to provide access. The second stage takes place from 1 Millbank to approximately 5 Kirkgate, east of the South Union Street junction.
Orchardgate will be made two-way during this time to allow residents access between Kirkgate and South Union Street.
From October 25-31 the work will move to West Park Road, and then finally on to Westfield Avenue.
Signs are displayed in the area to notify motorists and pedestrians of the roads affected.
During the work, on-street parking will not be possible within the affected area between 7.30am and 6pm.
Short-term access during the working day for special circumstances will have to be agreed in advance with the contractor.
Access for emergency services and pedestrians will be maintained at all times.
Fife Council says every effort will be made to minimise inconvenience to road users, with disruption kept to a minimum.