Measures needed to make West Fife road safer, says councillor

Councillor David Barratt says around 20 crashes have taken place on the B981 near Inverkeithing since he was elected onto the council in 2017.

After another smash earlier this month on the road going towards Crossgates, he has now called for more to be done to make the route safer.

"Inevitably, driver behaviour has to be blamed for part of it – if not most of it – but there are things that the council can try to do to negate the risk," he said.

"In the past, the council has reduced the speed limit and out down a higher friction surface. Because it goes through woodland, it is prone to get wet and quite slippy with residue coming from the woodland making it oily.

"A few of the options that I have put to officers is can they put in the black and white chevrons around the bends and also put a speed activated sign to flash and tell people to slow down.

Councillor David Barratt (Image: Fife Council)

"These are among the things being looked at. I am constantly highlighting drainage issues along there as well because leaves fall and block the drains."

Fife Council service manager Sara Wilson said they would be looking at options for the road.

"The B981 will form part of the ongoing implementation of Route Accident Reduction Plans (RARPs) on the Council A & B Class rural road network," she said.

"The RARPs are an in-depth review of each route, the recorded accidents (causes, times, road/weather conditions) and current condition of the road including signs/lines. We have plans to introduce a RARP scheme in the new financial year."