A decision has been made to close a popular level crossing in a Perthshire village leaving local residents anxious about walking and cycling routes.
Network Rail recently made a presentation to members of Blackford Community Council at which they emphasised their intention to close a pedestrian level crossing at Panholes near the village, and to replace it with a pedestrian bridge.
The rail company has stressed they are aiming to close all pedestrian level crossings across the UK, deeming them unsafe, but the community council want assurances that residents will still be able to move around the village.
Janet Law, chair of Blackford Community Council, said a study conducted by the group to identify cycle routes from Blackford to Auchterarder concluded that there are “serious constraints” to moving around the Blackford area.
“The constraints identified are primarily the A9 trunk road and land use patterns — in particular large and increasing areas used for golf,” she said.
“There were 150 responses to our consultation, reinforcing what we know about how important access to the countryside and good paths for cycling and walking are to Blackford residents.”
She continued: “The Panholes level crossing is on a very popular route which gives access to green space and quiet roads. Network Rail came to a Community Council meeting in March 2016 and told us that this crossing is to be closed, but that a bridge is to be built to replace it.
“This bridge is vital as it is one of only a couple of routes that residents of Blackford have to the lovely countryside around the village without having to cross the busy A9, where traffic travels at 70mph. ”
“At the first meeting with Network Rail, people asked if the new bridge could be made more accessible, but understood the explanation from Network Rail that it is not currently an accessible crossing across the rail tracks.
“However, my understanding is that because it is on a core path, the crossing can’t be closed until it is replaced with a bridge.”
A Network Rail spokesperson said: “Level crossings are the biggest external risk to rail safety and we are committed to removing them from our network where we can.
“We regularly review all of our crossings, assessing current and future rail traffic in the area and any decision to remove or upgrade a crossing is always taken with improving public safety as the main consideration.”
