The Ayrshire Roads Alliance has won an award for the Best Use of New Technology in the Highways Industry for the active travel corridor they designed between Loans and Troon.

Community support for the project was essential for its success, particularly during the feasibility and option appraisal stage.

Project partner Sweco created a 3D visualisation video of the entire route. The video showed every detail of the scheme including buildings and carriageways, which allowed residents to understand the scheme more fully. The project team decided that they could make the consultation even more interactive and created a 360◦Virtual Reality concept, using Virtual Reality googles, which allowed users to have a pedestrian or cyclist perspective of the route.

Councillor Ian Cochrane, Environment Portfolio Holder for South Ayrshire Council said: “The project team from the Ayrshire Roads Alliance and Sweco thought outside of the box and helped residents to fully visualise and see the importance of this vital active travel corridor that is now in the construction phase.

“Using new technology improved the way we consulted with our residents and the project team deserve to be recognised at a national level for their innovative work.”