COUNCILLORS will be asked to support the technical design of an active travel route on Jura next week.

Design options have been presented for a route which, if implemented, would enable people to walk or cycle from Craighouse to Corran Sands.

Residents have expressed a preference for an option which would see the use of private land, but Argyll and Bute Council officials are already exercising caution about the use of that land.

A report on the plans will go before the authority’s Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands area committee at its meeting on Wednesday, September 4.

Executive director Kirsty Flanagan said: “[The] do-minimum option aims to minimise any private land required and therefore restricts the design to the current corridor of the A846.

“As such, outside Craighouse it consists of minor interventions on the A846 to improve visibility, manage vehicle speeds are key locations and improve opportunities for pedestrians and cyclists to ‘step-off’ the A846 to allow vehicles to pass.

“While a cheaper option and deliverable without private land take, the do-minimum option fails to provide a high level of service under cycle by design.

“[The] do-something option aims to provide a high level of service under Cycle by Design and to meet more of the Sustrans imposed design requirements.

“As such, outside Craighouse the proposal was for an off-road wide path which mirrored the alignment of the A846 but would require access to private land.

“To reduce cost, the design proposed returning onto the A846 for short distances to cross three larger rivers, using the existing A846 bridges rather than constructing new bridges specifically for the path.

“To more closely align with Sustrans design requirements, the do-something option was proposed at 2m wide with a bound surface. The proposed width still requires to be agreed with Sustrans, as while it is more in keeping with the rural location it is lower than Sustrans stated design requirements.

“While supported by the community, the main landowners expressed concern that the provision of an off-road path was out of keeping with Jura, and therefore have not agreed to this option at present.”

Ms Flanagan added: “The community expressed a preference for the do-something option, but agreed with the view that the Sustrans imposed minimum width of 3m for a share-use path is excessively wide for the likely user numbers on Jura, and that a 2m wide path would be more appropriate.

“Unfortunately, engagement to date with Sustrans has failed to secure their agreement to a derivation from the design standards imposed to enable a less obtrusive path width to be considered.

“It is planned to continue engagement with Sustrans, community and landowners in future design stages.”