Fife Council has performed a U-turn on “vicious” speed bumps in Glenrothes.
The local authority has agreed to spend £17,000 removing the unpopular humps on Glamis Avenue and replacing them with an alternative traffic calming scheme.
The move comes after a petition was started and signed by almost 400 people, calling for the rubber humps to be ripped up, after businesses were said to be affected when drivers began avoiding the area.
The new speed cushions were installed this year after resurfacing work on the Pitteuchar street.
Transportation officials said the road’s foundation is too weak to take traditional, bituminous speed cushions and replaced them with bolt-down rubber ones.
Elizabeth Hepburn from nearby Dunbeath Drive, who organised the petition, presented it to Glenrothes Area Committee in August. It stated the bumps were unnecessary and excessive and damaged vehicles.
Ian B Smith from the council’s transportation service said the new cushions were more jarring than the ones they replaced, adding: “We would like to remove the rubber speed cushions, come up with an alternative design and consult with the local school and elected members.”
Councillor Ross Vettraino, who has already been instrumental in getting another set of speed humps removed from Glamis Avenue, said he is pleased the council is listening.
“The community has told us what the problems are,” he said.
The speed humps were installed to slow down traffic on the residential road, which runs next to Pitteuchar East Primary School and the Marigold Nursery, as well as the Glamis Centre.