Born in 1946 and brought up in Cupar, Fife, I was educated at the local school - 
Transport Minister, Stewart Stevenson visited Midlothian today to mark the opening of the multi-million pound Dalkeith Northern Bypass which will ease congestion and bring real benefits to local communities along the route.
The £30 million bypass, delivered by infrastructure services company Morgan Est on Transport Scotland’s behalf, involved the design and construction of a 3.5 mile (5.4 kilometre) single carriageway road.
The road combines a new junction on the A720 Edinburgh City bypass east of Sheriffhall with the A68 to the south of Dalkeith.
Mr Stevenson said:
"This vital bypass will ease congestion for residents in the heart of Dalkeith. I’m delighted to also be able to announce today the next stage for improvements on the A68 with the publication of the Road Orders for the Soutra – Oxton road widening scheme later this week.
"Combined with our third project along this route, Pathhead to Tynehead, we are investing £40 million in the A68 to bring economic and safety benefits to Midlothian communities."
With around 1.35 million vehicles and 180,000 heavy goods vehicles currently travelling through the centre of Dalkeith each year, the new bypass is crucial to the community of Dalkeith - cutting the heavy traffic through the town by more than half.
Preparations for the bypass also involved the recently completed £2.2 million package of improvements to the A720 Sheriffhall Roundabout while environmental mitigation measures to minimise the impact of the road has included the planting of 20,000 trees and shrubs as well as careful landscaping.
Jag Paddam, Morgan Est managing director of Infrastructure Projects said:
"It’s fantastic to see the bypass open today and we’ve enjoyed working with Transport Scotland on such an important project for local people. The bypass will benefit those living and working in Dalkeith hugely by not only dramatically reducing congestion in the town but also improving travel links to and from Dalkeith.
"This contract builds on our expertise in the construction, management and delivery of infrastructure schemes in Scotland."
The Soutra to Oxton scheme involves providing almost two miles of road widening to improve overtaking opportunities along this section of the A68.
The consultation period for this scheme starts on 25 September, finishing on 17 October for the Compulsory Purchase orders and 7 November for the draft road order. Subject to there being no objections, the statutory process is expected to be complete by January 2009 with construction starting Winter 2009/2010
For further information on these projects see links below:
Karen Adam is now the MSP for Banffshire and Buchan Coast
