Pedestrian Bridge & Safe Routes to School
To advocate for the construction of a new active travel bridge over the River Teith, and connect with pathways either side to allow safe and inclusive access to and from the McLaren community campus.
The River Teith
Back of McLaren High School and site of new Callander Primary School
— — — — ‘Creep’ footpath
Selected as the top two priorities of Callander’s Local Place Plan by CCDT and Callander Community Council in early 2023, this is a particularly important project for the community.
“1. i. a) The construction of a pedestrian bridge over the Teith at the east end of town, along with fully accessible paths along the south of the river to the McLaren campus would allow Callander to become a 20-minute neighbourhood. Callander has been asking for a river crossing in this location since 2008 and the construction of the new primary school at the campus offers an opportunity to access the necessary funds.
1. i. b) It is unacceptable that the Creep
footpath is inaccessible to wheelchairs
and mobility scooters, baby buggies
and cycles. It is a core footpath and,
as such, should be fully accessible. It
needs to be upgraded so that everyone
who needs to use it can do so.”
Presently, a parent living at Robertson Way at the east end of Callander, who does not drive, must walk their child down the A84 to get to a bridge over the river. If they have a pushchair, they will have to take the White Bridge (a narrow pedestrian and cycle bridge which does not get gritted in winter and is not lit) and walk up the ‘Creep’ footpath which is a steep slope and is also ungritted, to get their child(ren) to school. The only other bridge, the Red bridge, is a road bridge with a pavement too narrow for pushchairs.
Robertson Way -> new Callander Primary School
- Via White Bridge + Creep: 10km a day
- Via Red Bridge + A81: 12km a day
This project is in the hands of Stirling Council, our Local Authority. They must secure funding and project manage both the building of the bridge, as well as the pedestrian, cycle and wheeling paths to connect it with existing walkways in town on the north side and the schools and leisure centre campus on the south side.
CCDT and the Community Council will promote and support the process in order to see these critical pieces of infrastructure delivered for Callander.