Today BEAR Scotland, one of the leading providers of road maintenance services in the country, starts a new and enhanced contract to retain responsibility for managing and maintaining 1,422km of trunk roads in the North West of Scotland.

In April this year, Transport Scotland appointed BEAR Scotland as the Operating Company for the new Scottish Trunk Road Network Management Contract for the North West commencing on Tuesday 16 August until at least 2030 with the option of a potential four year extension. The company has been responsible for the North West trunk roads, under the previous contract, since 2013.

New contract enhances service for trunk road users

BEAR Scotland is committed to delivering a quality service for road users across trunk roads in the North West of Scotland. It will build on the service delivered in the North West since 2013. Led by Operating Company Representative, Eddie Ross, the new contract will bring:

• Reduced disruption to road users through route-based programming across various maintenance activities to help co-ordinate and make best use of any traffic management.
• An all year round approach to severe weather management recognising the potential impacts of all types of adverse weather.
• A focus on climate change adaptation, ensuring the trunk road network is able to cope with greater extremes of weather.
• Enhanced focus on net-zero ambitions across all aspects of service delivery working in partnership with Transport Scotland.
• Enhanced focus on stakeholders and customers with greater emphasis on community engagement and community benefits.
• A new approach to delivering road safety improvements by incorporating these goals into every project, to help reduce the number of people killed or injured on our roads.
• Improvements that will encourage more active travel and improve accessibility for all.
• A new fleet of winter maintenance and road maintenance vehicles and an increasing number of electric and other ultra-low emission vehicles to help reduce carbon emission will be phased in.

Iain Murray, managing director of BEAR Scotland, said: “We have been proud custodians of the trunk roads in the North West of Scotland since 2013. Retaining responsibility for the North West for potentially then next 12 years is a testament to the quality of work delivered by our teams. It demonstrates the ongoing strength and value of the services we provide.

“We have extensive experience, and the expertise of our dedicated North West team will ensure we deliver and develop a high-level service that focuses on customer care for the people and organisations that rely on trunk roads in the North West of Scotland for years to come.

“We look forward to seeing the next chapter unfold as we work hard to enhance our sustainable service offering.”

As an operating company working for Transport Scotland, BEAR Scotland is responsible for the inspection, management and maintenance of the trunk road assets to ensure the safety of all road users and stakeholders. In addition to major road and bridge maintenance work, BEAR Scotland will undertake winter service operations, provide an incident response service, as well other cyclic maintenance activities.

BEAR also took on the contract for the South East in August 2020 and will be responsible for the unit until at least 2028. BEAR also manages and maintains the M80 Stepps to Haggs project and the A92 Dundee to Arbroath Dual Carriageway.