Access between Greenock town centre and the waterfront has been improved thanks to a new crossing for pedestrians and cyclists.

The toucan crossing at the foot of William Street stretches across the busy A8 Dalrymple Street trunk road and connects onto Custom House Way and down to the quayside.

It links the town centre with the waterfront area and will soon serve cruise ship passengers and crew from the new Ocean Terminal development, which is currently under construction.

Toucan crossings are wider than normal crossings to accommodate pedestrians and cyclists safely across the road at the same time.

It replaces the nearby pedestrian crossing at the bottom of Cross Shore Street.

Councillor Michael McCormick, Inverclyde Council’s convener of environment and regeneration, said:

“This new crossing is in a much better location than the previous pedestrian crossing, is much wider to accommodate both pedestrians and cyclists at the same time, and it is much more visible which improves road safety.

“The location at the foot of William Street means there is now much better access between this side of the town centre and the waterfront where we have the likes of the leisure complex, cinema, Beacon Arts Centre, retail park, offices, the National Cycle Route and, of course, the new cruise ship visitor centre coming soon.

“We want to make Greenock and Inverclyde on the whole as welcoming and accessible as possible for locals and visitors alike and improvements like this are part of that effort, as well as our ongoing regeneration of Greenock town centre.”

The £300,000 project was led by Inverclyde Council in consultation with trunk road operators Transport Scotland and its contractor Amey, which manages the A8, and was funded thanks to a grant from Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT).

Councillor David Wilson, chair of SPT operations Committee, said:

“I am delighted that this investment from SPT in the new crossing is helping support the regeneration of Greenock town centre by improving the local environment for pedestrians and cyclists.

“This area of William Street is very busy and will only get more so with the new cruise ship visitor centre.

“The improvements being made will be invaluable for both locals and visitors coming to Greenock and the waterfront area.”

Work on the new toucan crossing started at the beginning of August and the majority was completed by the end of October 2021.