A PHASE of major surfacing works on the M90 as part of the Forth Replacement Crossing project are set to be completed ahead of schedule, meaning less disruption for road users in Fife.
The surfacing works – part of the Fife ITS contract undertaken by Graham Construction – required a contraflow scheme during the week and saw the M90 reduced to just one lane southbound over the last two weekends during both daytime and night time.
These works are now set to be complete by the early hours of Saturday 5 May. This means there will be no daytime reduction to the number of lanes in operation on the M90 over the weekends of 5/6 May and 12/13 May as originally planned.
It was feared the contraflow would see delays of up to 30 minutes during the week and possibly up to 2 hours on affected weekends, with the M90 reduced to one lane southbound. However, thanks to motorists heeding advice to carefully consider their journeys and use alternative means of travel if possible, delays rarely rose beyond 20 to 30 minutes at any time.
Motorists are reminded, however, that a 40mph speed limit enforced by Average Speed Cameras is still in place through on the M9, M9 Spur and M90 whilst the FRC works continue to be undertaken. Scheduled overnight maintenance works to the existing Forth Road Bridge also may cause some delays at certain times.
Steven Brown, Roads Team Manager for the Forth Replacement Crossing said: “We appreciate the patience shown by all those affected by this phase of the works over recent weeks. Our contractors Graham Construction have been working hard to complete them ahead of schedule and minimise inconvenience to road users.
“Thankfully the disruption on this route was far less than feared, particularly at weekends, and I would like to thank motorists who choose to either postpone their journey or use alternative travel such as the train.
“ScotRail provided extra capacity on 28 services and its first ever off-peak season ticket between Edinburgh and Fife stations for the duration of the weekday works. This joined up approach has helped reduce disruption faced by travellers.”
Sean Duffy, ScotRail’s commercial director, said: “There is no doubt our actions which encouraged more people to leave their car at home and travel by train helped mitigate the impact of the works.”
First announced on 13 March, the works were well publicised, including leaflets on trains and a series of radio adverts. They were necessary for the resurfacing of the southbound carriageway as part of the Fife ITS contract being carried out by Graham Construction for Forth Replacement Crossing project.
