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Balloch Village Plans

A place making project completed in 2019 aimed to revitalize the village of Balloch. The project focused on Village Square (Public square at Moss O’Balloch) and Balloch Road West.

Improving the public realm has improved the attractiveness of the village, created a stronger sense of arrival for visitors and improved connections for pedestrians and cyclists between the public transport arrival points, the village centre, Loch Lomond Shores and Balloch Park.

Project background

The project originated from the successful ‘Live in Balloch’ charrette undertaken in 2016. Partners involved included West Dunbartonshire Council, Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park, Abellio ScotRail, Scottish Enterprise and Sustrans.

In Spring 2017 Sustrans led on a consultation to develop ideas for the project in cooperation with other partners and the local community. The resulting outline design can be viewed at https://ballochproposals.commonplace.is/ 

West Dunbartonshire Council then took over the lead on the project with the following main measures were proposed as part of the overall public realm improvement scheme:

Village Square

  • Improved civic space in the centre of the village including raised tables and traffic calming to create a sense of place with the potential to encourage further activity like seasonal markets and performances;
  • Existing public square incorporated into the new design;
  • Design gives priority to pedestrians and cyclists while allowing sufficient carriageway capacity to maintain steady flow of traffic;
  • Wider sections of paving in key locations to enhance the space and provide opportunities for ‘café culture and additional seating;
  • Narrower carriage way will discourage illegal parking;
  • Formal car parking including disability spaces incorporated into the design; and
  • Improvements include lighting, street furniture and signage.

Balloch Road West

  • Realignment/narrowing of the main carriageway (Balloch Road) between Pier Road and Ben Lomond Way to reduce the speed of traffic;
  • Raised table crossings will be incorporated into the design at key locations
  • Car parking on both sides of the road formalised by creation of marked parking bays; and

Additional public realm enhancement to create a better sense of place and arrival.