COUNCIL officers have been grilled over changes to a £4m plan to improve road infrastructure in and around Inverkip.

The local authority’s environment and regeneration committee gave their backing to plans to create a new junction and install traffic lights on the A78 south of the village.

The aim of the £4.15m project is to unlock investment at the vacant Inverkip Power Station site, which is currently earmarked a 650-home development, and to improve road safety on the A78.

Plans had been drawn up for the main access to the 650-home site to be via a roundabout.

But an updated report revealed the access arrangement has been changed to a T-junction, which is to be located near the cottages at Inverkip Bay.

The Brueacre junction near the former Inverkip power station will not be used as the access point to the development. (Image: George Munro)

A staggered pedestrian crossing and traffic lights will be added to the junction once 200 homes have been built on the land.

Officers were asked to explain the reasoning behind the decision to change to a T-junction by council leader Stephen McCabe, who wanted to know whether the new junction was the cheapest option or the best.

In response, council officer Neale McIlvanney said: “The identification of the 'best option' in the business case is from a cost and operational perspective.

"It meets both criteria and that’s why it was taken forward."

Councillor McCabe also enquired about the rationale behind waiting for 200 homes to be built before installing signals at the new junction.

Mr McIlvanney added: “That’s just from a technical perspective. At that point in time the capacity of the junction will require to be managed through signalised junction rather than flowing, as it will until that point.”

The council is requesting that £3.6m from the Glasgow City Region Infrastructure Programme goes towards the project, with the remaining £570,000 coming from Inverclyde Council. 

Committee members approved the final business case at Thursday’s meeting, which will now be submitted to the Glasgow City Region project management office for their approval.

Once the office approves the plan, the project will progress to conclude the contract and move onto construction. 

The upgrade works include a 'signalised' junction at the north end of Inverkip vilage, and another at the entrance to Kip Marina. (Image: George Munro)

Councillor Paul Cassidy told officers that progress on the project, which has been in the pipeline since 2014, would be welcomed by locals.

He said: “I want to thank officers for bringing this report forward and for the tremendous amount of work that’s gone into this project and the final business case.

“To say that the villagers of Inverkip and Wemyss Bay have been waiting a long time for this is a significant understatement.

“This project was originally intended to be the first City Deal initiative undertaken in Inverclyde as part of the Glasgow City Region deal, but it has instead become one of the last to commence.

“I want to express my deepfelt gratitude to the villagers of Inverkip and Wemyss Bay as well as Inverkip and Wemyss Bay community council who have tirelessly campaigned for this project.

“And while the project is aimed at unlocking investment, for the villagers it represents a critical step towards addressing longstanding safety issues at the Inverkip junction.

“This project represents a significant investment in Inverkip, and it should rightly be noted that it is only happening because this council took the initiative to include it in the City Deal project.

“Without this decision no improvement would have been made because the Scottish Government agency responsible for the A78, Transport Scotland, didn’t consider this junction to be a major accident hotspot.

“Despite numerous obstacles that have been put in the path of this project from Scottish Power to Transport Scotland, our officers have persevered and worked closely with the local community to bring this project to where it is today.”

Officers reported that the projects costs have risen by £350,000 since the outline case was approved due to inflationary construction costs, additional time required on site to ensure a works phasing programme that is acceptable to Transport Scotland, and some additional professional fees and contingency.

Construction work is due to start in the first quarter of 2025.