From April to June over £16.5M has been invested in the North West trunk road network on behalf of Transport Scotland, with schemes being promoted across the Planned and Routine Maintenance, Minor Improvements, Bridges, Active Travel & Road Safety Teams. With the better weather and successful completion of winter service, good progress has been made on many projects.
On the A9 North of Kessock, a road safety scheme is currently under construction, with completion due late July. The scheme will permanently close the right turn from the B9161 onto the northbound A9 at Munlochy junction. The project involves replacing the temporary measures put in place in November 2022, along with other measures including new and improved central reservation crossing points, new road lighting and a vehicle restraint system. A permanent island and signage will be installed so that drivers will not be able to make a right turn manoeuvre from the B9161 road onto the A9 northbound carriageway to Tore, improving road safety at the junction. The “prohibition of right-turn” was one of the favoured options identified through previous public consultations.
In April we installed a new traffic signal-controlled pedestrian crossing on the A830 Fort William to Mallaig road, near the Glenfinnan National Trust for Scotland Visitor Centre. The new crossing will improve road safety at this busy location for pedestrians crossing the A830 between the Visitor Centre and Glenfinnan Monument.
In June, on the A9 at the Raigmore Interchange, Inverness a substantial investment, with a combined value of nearly £800,000, involved resurfacing 600 metres of the carriageway as well as replacing and extending safety barriers on the southbound carriageway. The barrier upgrades were part of ongoing road safety improvements on the A9 and followed on from work successfully completed in April on the northbound side of the Interchange. The ambitious project is expected to make a real difference to drivers’ safety.
On the A830 near Fort William, preparatory works began ahead of active travel and road safety improvements to be completed later this year, as part of BEAR Scotland’s ongoing commitment to improve safety for vulnerable road users. The scheme will see upgrades to the existing links for pedestrians and cyclists in the area. Ten nights of advance works took place next to the A830 / B8009 Junction and Lochaber High School, with BEAR Scotland preparing to make the shared use cycle paths safer and more accessible. The existing signal-controlled junction will also be upgraded to improve journey times in the area and improvements will be made to the road surface and road markings to enhance safety for drivers.
A number of sections of road have been resurfaced at a total cost of around £7.5m:
The Minor Improvements team continued with the programme of works for the A83 Rest and Be Thankful (RABT), completing the construction of a large catchpit at the location of the major landslides in 2020. This measure has allowed traffic management on the A83 to be removed, with daily monitoring of the area continuing behind the scenes to ensure road users are kept safe.
Ian Stewart, BEAR Scotland’s North West Representative, said: “We remain committed to ensuring trunk roads across the North West of Scotland are maintained to the highest of standards. It has been a busy period with our delivery of the new contract bedding in and seeing success across a wide range of projects. Our teams have worked hard to complete a variety of schemes ranging from bridge improvements, maintenance works and road safety upgrades.
“We would like to thank all road users and the local communities for their continued patience. We understand some frustrations can arise; however, we carefully plan projects with a view to minimising disruption as much as possible.”
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