Stevenson Welcomes Start of Construction Work on A96

Stewart Stevenson, SNP MSP for Banffshire & Buchan Coast, has welcomed the start of work on the A96 bottleneck on the Inveramsay Bridge.

Transport Minister Derek Mackay was in the north-east today (Wednesday) to mark the start of the new £10 million scheme that will bring significant benefits for local road users.

Mr Stevenson said:

“This is an important part of £1 billion of infrastructure investment in the north-east by the Scottish Government. This scheme will hugely benefit road users in the area by reducing congestion and improving journey times.

“Improvements at the Inveramsay Bridge will reduce the likelihood of bridge strikes by realigning the A96 to avoid the low headroom bridge, and improve traffic flow through the area by allowing two-way traffic flow through without the need for the traffic signals currently in place.”

The A96 project at the Inveramsay Bridge is only part of a package of transport improvement work across the north-east.

Mr Mackay added that the Aberdeen bypass scheme will also be delivered earlier than planned, with the completion date now set for winter 2017.
He said:

“This work start at Inveramsay Bridge reflects where we want to take transport infrastructure for the north-east – preparing, procuring and providing improvements to bring the benefits as early as possible.”

The improvement work is expected to be completed in 2016.