Fife Council outline Cowdenbeath Area Transport Plan 2025-35

That's the pledge from Fife Council after a long list of improvement proposals for the patch - which covers Benarty, Cardenden, Cowdenbeath, Crossgates, Hill of Beath, Kelty, Lochgelly and Lumphinnans - were outlined to councillors.

They include new and wider paths, cycleways and school travel plans, more parking spaces and disabled bays, bridge replacements, new electric vehicle charging points, traffic signal and junction upgrades, railway station improvements and new bus shelters with digital displays.

Also on the list presented to the Cowdenbeath area committee were traffic lights on the roundabout at Crossgates, new 20mph speed limit zones, traffic calming, new pedestrian crossings, air quality monitoring, speedwatch campaigns, better connections to and from Lochore Meadows and moves to make it easier to hire minibuses.

Plans for the centre of Cowdenbeath include junction and traffic light improvements. (Image: Newsquest)

There's also the intriguing proposal to "explore the potential of a new robotic delivery service" in Cowdenbeath.

Emma Gilmour, the council's lead consultant for transport networks, told the committee the plan was pulled together after "extensive" consultation with the public and is subject to final approval.

Cllr Darren Watt said that out of more than 42,000 residents there were fewer than 200 responses and asked if it was a "glorified wishlist".

Ms Gilmour replied: "No. It's a realistic plan. That was one of our critical success factors that decided whether something was in this plan.

"It had to be affordable, have some chance of being funded and also be feasible.

"Everything here is deemed as having a realistic possibility of being implemented.

"This is something you should be able to look back on in 10 years and I would say 80-90 per cent of it should be delivered."

Better links to and from Lochore Meadows are on the way. (Image: Fife Council)

The broader aims are fair access to daily activities, safe and secure travel for all, a transition to net zero, and a resilient transport network, but the more interesting details are in the specific projects.

Numerous active travel routes - paths and routes designed for walking, cycling or 'wheeling' - are proposed, including the Meedies to Kinglassie, Lochore to Westfield, Cardenden to Lochgelly, Cowdenbeath to Mossmorran and Loch Gelly, Kelty to Cowdenbeath, Crossgates to Halbeath and the Dunfermline to the Meedies section of the Pilgrim Way.

Disabled parking access to Ballingry, Cowdenbeath, Lochgelly and Lochore post offices is to be reviewed, with bus shelters to be installed on Cocklaw Street in Kelty.

The plan has projects that are already in the pipeline, such as the Den Burn Bridge and Broad Street Bridge replacements, and those that are just about completed, such as the active travel route between Fife Cycle Park and Lochore Meadows.

Persimmon Homes have gifted land for a new car park at Kelty Hearts ground. (Image: David Wardle)

There is also the deal between Persimmon Homes and Fife Council which will see the housebuilder donate land for Kelty Hearts FC to "build and operate a new purpose-built car park" for the benefit of the local community.

In Cowdenbeath reviews will be carried out of the High Street / Stenhouse Street junction and the traffic light timings at the junction of High Street / Hall Street / Central Park, with the aim of bringing in improvements.

Similar schemes are planned for the junctions at Station Road / Bank Street / Auchterderran Road and The Avenue / B9149 at Lochgelly.

There are junction improvements planned in Lochgelly. (Image: Newsquest)

New pedestrian crossings are proposed on the B925 at Mossgreen and on Cocklaw Street and Great North Road, both at Kelty.

Air quality monitoring is also ahead on Cowdenbeath High Street, Main Street in Lumphinnans and on Dunfermline Road and Springhill Brae in Crossgates.

Cllr Bailey-Lee Robb said: "It's very vague. It reads more like a strategy than an action plan."

Ms Gilmour said there were more than 100 actions in the plan, the council are relying on other stakeholders to deliver some of them, such as Network Rail for the rail station improvements and Police Scotland for the speedwatch campaigns, and full details weren't yet available for each project.

The timeframe for each action is given as short, medium or long.

She added: "We wanted to understand what people wanted or needed in your area to help those places improve and develop.

"Equally we were trying to identify actual actions that can be monitored and checked by people on the ground to see they happen."