Highland Council plans Academy Street footway works in Inverness for early 2027

The Highland Council has announced plans to carry out footway improvement works on Academy Street in Inverness between January and March 2027, with no change to traffic flow, loading bays, bus stops or taxi ranks.

The council said the works would improve pedestrian infrastructure between Friar's Lane and Falcon Square. The scope includes upgrading the traffic lights at Union Street and Friar's Lane, widening footways in selected places where footfall is heavy, and building raised footways at the Rose Street and Falcon Square junctions to give pedestrians priority.

New dropped kerbs and tactile paving will be installed at uncontrolled crossing points. Footways on both the north and south sides of the street will be resurfaced in tarmac, although the council said sections of Caithness slab would be retained.

The council said loading bays, bus stops, taxi ranks and waiting restrictions would be unchanged by the works and that there would be no alteration to traffic flow through Academy Street. The notice does not state a cost, a contractor or a funding source.

Drop-in session

Officers from Highland Council and Inverness BID will hold a drop-in session to discuss the project and show design drawings in the Food Hall at The Victorian Market, Academy Street, on Wednesday 11 November 2026 between 10am and 2pm.

Before the session, the council said, letters setting out the project scope and copies of the design drawings would be delivered to businesses in the city centre and to residents of Academy Street.

The earlier scheme

The 2027 works follow a more extensive redesign of the street that the council approved and later abandoned. On 28 August 2023 the council's City of Inverness Area Committee agreed to the 'Making Academy Street a Place for Everyone' proposal, which would have widened footpaths to the maximum possible, increased pedestrian crossings along the length of the street and restricted motor vehicle access to deliveries, public transport and blue-badge holders.

Cllr Chris Ballance, Depute Leader of Inverness and Area, said at the time: "This will turn Academy Street from a road to drive through into a place to go to."

On 24 April 2024 the council presented economic and traffic impact assessments of that design carried out by consultants WSP. According to the council, the economic assessment estimated a benefit-cost ratio of 0.51 and rated the scheme's value for money as poor, while finding that wider economic impacts were expected to generate benefits of between £1.5m and £4m.

Councillor Ian Brown, City Leader, said then that the independent assessments addressed the "design of Academy Street, which we do acknowledge has caused concerns amongst local businesses and residents."

At a meeting on 19 September 2024, councillors voted for an option that stopped the implementation of a Traffic Regulation Order and ended the Academy Street project, with all Covid-era interventions removed. The council said the decision took account of the challenges around funding and the data collected during the project.

In October 2024 the council appointed contractor Markon to carry out road marking works to revert the street to its pre-Covid traffic management. That work was due to start on Monday 4 November 2024 and take four to five days. Bollards outside the taxi rank on the Union Street approach were kept as permanent measures to prevent U-turns.

Unlike the 2023 design, the works now proposed leave vehicle access and traffic flow through the street as they are.

Design drawings for the 2027 works will be on view at The Victorian Market on 11 November, with construction scheduled to start in January 2027.