A steep and treacherous footpath in Dedridge, which is the main walking route to the town centre, will have a handrail for safety installed this winter.
It’s a positive outcome in the controversial and confusing Covid recovery fund spending which south Livingston and the other eight wards in West Lothian Council are making decisions on before Christmas.
The Livingston South local area committee heard from Dedridge resident Karon Langan who told councillors that many people, especially the elderly, would take the footpath to the town centre and, having got to the top of the steep slope at Ivanhoe Rise, would take another route into town.
She told the committee: “There’s nothing to grab on to. It’s steep and slippery, whether it be icy, whether it be the leaves coming down and if it's been raining. It's pretty treacherous.”
Mrs Langan added: “People end up going the long way, from The Lanthorn, or following the road. The whole point of these pathways and underpasses is to prevent footfall along the road edges.
“Having a handrail there makes that path more suitable for everyone walking to the town centre.”
A report to the committee by Gordon Brown, the Road, Network Manager, conceded the pathway would benefit from handrails down the 32m (100ft) slope.
His report added: “This footpath runs generally south-westwards, parallel with Dedridge East Road, from Ivanhoe Rise to the main centre path over a distance of approximately 125 metres. The footpath is generally level except for the last 32 metres which slope towards the centre path and its underpass of Dedridge East Road at an average gradient of 11%”
All current guidance agrees that any footpath that has that gradient should have handrails and officers agreed that the work should be scheduled when funds are available.
Mr Brown’s report concluded that there was no money in the budget for even the cheapest option at £20,000.
All four ward councillors Conservative Peter Heggie, Labour Lawrence Fitzpatrick, and two SNP, Moira Shemilt and Maria MacAulay agreed that the handrail could be funded from the ward's £150,000 share of the Covid fund, along with other “refresh and renew” projects in the area- around a dozen in total.
Council leader Mr Fitzpatrick, chairing the committee said: “ I think we have tried to distribute the fund as fairly as possible so everywhere in the ward gets something.”
