top of page
Lorry-on-the-road.jpg

Newburgh High Street

The A913 is a busy road and every year it is getting even busier

In 1975, there were 1.3 million vehicles licensed in Scotland. That figure had more than doubled to over 3 million vehicles in 2019 – a rise of 135%. The Scottish Government are, they say, determined to reduce this figure. Yet with no significant new rail station station projects,  the number of cars on the road will just continue to grow.

Without significant improvements in public transport, Newburgh's High street will become more congested -  a small town with a growing rush hour!

""

The car is king in Newburgh

Research by the Scottish Government Social Research unit examined in 2010 why many car drivers outside of urban areas are not drawn to use buses. There are many reasons why this so. In short, not enough car drivers, especially commuters, are stepping away from their cars to use buses. 

This is certainly true of Newburgh.

"Always having to use our car as there is no other option in this place. No train station and the buses do not run late enough to use them on a night out".

"Without a car, it's really difficult to get from Newburgh to anywhere else. e.g., Saturday night out,  if you needed to go to Perth by public transport".

Newburgh residents

The A913 - barely wide enough to be an A road

Aside from two or three B roads, Newburgh drivers use the increasingly congested A913, running from the A92 in the East through Newburgh to Abernethy and on to the A9 near the Bridge of Earn.

​The increase in traffic is causing a rise in air pollution as well as low grade but persistent damage to the integrity of Newburgh's historical buildings. Its High Street was never built to cope with large lorries carrying, in some cases, super-size loads. Moreover, constant noise from the ceaseless volume of cars and lorries causes stress and sleeplessness for some residents living on the High Street.

 

The irony is that applications to Fife Council Planning Department to install double glazing in property on the High Street can be particularly onerous. Yet Fife Council's Road Planning Department has no issue with the volume and type of traffic passing through Newburgh, and the problems this creates.

Is there another viable route?

The upgraded A92, running east to west, four miles south of Newburgh also goes through a pinch point at the town of Auchtermuchty. However, heavy vehicles do not have to mount pavements to get past each other as sometimes happens in our town.

 

Nevertheless, despite regular congestion on Newburgh's High Street, many heavy goods vehicles, choose to take the A913 rather than the A92 - shaving some time off their east to west journeys -  at a cost to Newburgh.

 

In response to a query about heavy traffic, an office from Fife Council's Planning department said, 'Well, it is an A road!.'  Who knew?

​"Traffic tailbacks and accidents"

"Periodically busy roads, parking, find driving a lot very tiring"

"Traffic is bad, long queues Train would be so much easier from Newburgh"

Newburgh residents

Car exhaust

The tyranny of the truck

 

​​​​​​​​​​Car drivers coming through Newburgh and Abernethy are competing with the alarming growth in the number of large container trucks and the endless  'quarry lorry' traffic from nearby Clatchard Quarry. 

It is not unusual to see a lorry mount the pavement to edge past a truck coming the other way. A resident describes people standing at a Newburgh High Street bus stop having to step back to let a lorry past! There is little doubt who is in charge of the High Street.

The increase in the number of heavy vehicles, often going beyond the speed limit, makes the likelihood of a serious accident more probable.​​

""

An all too common aggregate lorry returning to nearby Clatchard Quarry

Car use in Newburgh is high
 

Transport is Scotland’s biggest contributor to negative climate change, emitting over a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions, 38% from cars. 

But Transport Scotland have a plan.

 

The National Transport Strategy (NTS2) outlines the future of Scottish travel in all forms.  As part of their strategy they provide a route map for how they will achieve a 20% reduction in car kilometres by 2030. The map talks of behavioural changes, with people travelling less, using more online shopping services - and social connections and people switching modes to walk, cycle or wheel. 

This is laudable, but how do we get there? These changes come at a cost. For towns like Newburgh, it means providing better public transport. But with limited government finances, where is the funding going to come from? Car drivers will not swap to public transport as it stands.

For Newburgh to keep on the route map to a more sustainable, cleaner future, the Government must reopen the town's station. 

​​​

Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan, updated in 2020, includes what it describes as a  'world-leading' commitment to reducing car kilometres by 2030 (set against a 2019 baseline).

A recent report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) examined transport infrastructure in rural Scotland. It states that car use has continued to grow, while bus miles have declined by 27 per cent since 2010.​

The report claims, 'Communities across rural Scotland want fairer choices. And they want people, not cars, to be at the heart of making these a reality'. 

 

Newburgh's non-contribution to net zero

 

The IPPR report goes on to state that the Scottish government is 'off track' to meet its net zero commitments. Car use in Scotland has continued to grow, while bus provision and patronage have declined.

Newburgh is no different. Like many communities throughout Scotland with poor public transport, the number of cars will not be going down anytime soon.

""
Why not leave us your thoughts?

A station will attract more car drivers than the bus 

Bottom-page Newburgh promo
bottom of page