Dunoon to Hunters Quay Active Travel Route

Argyll and Bute Council are working in partnership with Sustrans Scotland to explore the opportunities for a new active travel path between Dunoon and Hunters Quay.

In 2023 Argyll and Bute Council appointed Stantec as the design team lead to develop a concept design for an improved active travel route between Dunoon and Hunters Quay that was compliant with design principles set out in Cycling by Design (2021)

This work is being developed through continuous consultation with the local community and key stakeholders and is funded by Transport Scotland through the Sustrans administered Places for Everyone programme.

Public Consultation

A public consultation on the updated concept design was held between the 29th January and the 23rd February 2024.

We would like to thank everyone who took part in the consultation the results of which will be available to view on this web page shortly.

Although the public consultation is now closed the drawings and information boards that were presented for consultation can still be viewed here.

Frequently asked questions

The money would be better spent elsewhere such as upgrading the roads

The funding available for the project is limited to the completion of concept design proposals, currently underway. This funding is provided by the Scottish Government (Transport Scotland) and administered by Sustrans under their Places for Everyone grant programme with 100% of the required project cost funded by the Scottish Government.

Places for Everyone grants are ring-fenced and can only be spent on eligible projects aiming to improve walking, wheeling* and cycling for everyday journeys.

There are no funds committed at this stage to progress the project beyond concept design.

*Wheeling is defined to only cover modes that use pavement space at a similar speed to walking such as wheelchairs, pushchairs or children’s scooters, It does not include the use of e-scooters or cycles.

There is no need for cycle paths in Dunoon, there is plenty of room for cyclists either on road or the promenade

The promenade provides an excellent facility for walking, wheeling and cycling within Dunoon. However the footway north of Kirn is not very wide and although cyclists have the right to ride responsibly along the footway it is not the ideal environment for the interaction between pedestrians and cyclists.

Scottish Government’s (Transport Scotland) “Cycling by Design” guidance suggest that, based on the volume of existing traffic, cyclists should be separated from vehicles on the A815. The guidance aims to ensure that cycling is a practical and attractive choice for the everyday and occasional journeys of all people, particularly new, returning or less confident users. Concerns have previously been raised to officers regarding conflicts between pedestrians and cyclists on the shared section of the promenade.

Compliance with “Cycling by Design” will be essential in securing additional grants from the Scottish Government under Sustrans’ Places for Everyone programme.

A key objective of the project is to improve accessibility for people walking and wheeling along the corridor. The majority of pavements along the East Bay, both north of Kirn and on the opposite side of Alexandra Parade to the promenade, are narrower than the 2m minimum recommended by both Scottish Government and Argyle and Bute Council standards.

The majority of existing access points to the promenade take the form of steps or steep ramps preventing access for those with mobility difficulties, in wheelchairs or parents with pushchairs.

How was the route chosen? There is no reason to connect the two ferry terminals, those cycling will get the closest ferry to their final destination

The identification of the route came from the 2017 Think Dunoon Charette which included a series of public events to discuss and debate the future of Dunoon. One of the outputs of this exercise was the desire to look at improving active travel routes within the town and specifically along the sea front between the Dunoon passenger ferry and Western Ferries vehicular ferry at Hunters Quay. The route was subject to initial stakeholder engagement and public consultation in 2018 and the current project seeks to refresh the proposals based on changes to design guidance.

Not many people walk or cycle along this route?

Surveys were undertaken in March 2023 over 4 days with the following findings:

North of the A815 / A885 John Street roundabout

On average 300 pedestrians and 30 cyclists were recorded.
Sunday 26th March was the busiest day with 419 pedestrians and 59 cyclists recorded.

South of Hunters Quay

On average 128 pedestrians and 5 cyclists were recorded.
Sunday 26th March was the busiest day with 188 pedestrians and 12 cyclists recorded.

One of the projects aims to increase the number of people walking, wheeling and cycling for everyday short journeys.

The removal of any parking along the route will impact on residents and businesses

We acknowledge that parking in certain sections of the route is constrained, particularly around Argyll House and Kirn. However, between Argyll House and Kirn, observed parking demand is currently around 50% of the available parking capacity with no on-street parking available in the vicinity of the ferry terminals.

Our ability to alter the layout of streets including widening narrow pavements, introducing new crossing points and providing dedicated cycling provision is limited by the street space currently allocated to parking.

Where parking is proposed to be reduced compared to this existing situation the objective is to maintain parking in line with observed parking demand wherever possible. As the part of the ongoing concept design process, we will be working with local businesses to identify solutions that seek to retain parking and loading particularly in the vicinity of Kirn shops.

I wasn’t aware of the project prior to the consultation and have concerns but the consultation questionnaire doesn’t allow the ability to object

The consultation is designed as an information gathering exercise about existing walking, wheeling and cycling patterns and current barriers to active travel. Further engagement will be undertaken once the initial concept designs have been updated based on feedback to date. Should the project receive approval from the Bute and Cowal Area Committee and secure Scottish Government funding to progress beyond this concept design stage, there will be multiple future opportunities for Dunoon residents to provide feedback on future designs stages.

The project is currently not funded beyond the concept design stage and will not proceed onto further design stages without the approval of the Councillors on the Bute and Cowal Area Committee.