More M8 misery ahead for drivers

Nov 26 2009 by Marjorie Kerr, West Lothian Courier

DRIVERS throughout the West Lothian area are being warned to expect delays on the M8 motorway due to roadworks.

The next phase of resurfacing of Scotland’s busiest motorway will begin between Duntilland and the A73 at Junction 6 (Newhouse) on Friday (November 27) for 14 days.

This is the last phase of the £3.2m M8 upgrade programme between Junction 5 (Shotts) and Junction 6 (Newhouse) this year.

The Transport Scotland funded works will see the reconstruction of this 3km section of the westbound carriageway used daily by 57,000 vehicles.

A carbon management pilot will measure the materials, energy and waste generated by the project as a whole.

This pilot pre-empts the requirements of the Scottish Climate Change Bill for transport bodies to report on the carbon impacts of their operations and activities.

During the works, two lanes of traffic will remain open in each direction during the day using a contraflow to minimise disruption to traffic.

The carriageway will be reduced to one lane in each direction between 8pm and 6am to allow final road surfacing work to be completed.

For the safety of workers and the travelling public, a speed limit of 40mph will be in place.

Eddie Ross, Consultancy Manager for BEAR Scotland, said: “Since 2007, Transport Scotland has invested over £22 million on the M8.

“This particular programme of improvement works between Junction 5 and 6 is now nearing completion. “These upgrades, which have been undertaken since late summer, will see this section of Scotland’s busiest motorway continue to work safely for years to come.

“Transport Scotland recently introduced the carbon management scheme to provide a new method of evaluating the carbon footprint of key road works projects. With works of this scale, we hope to get a significant collection of data to help us work together with Transport Scotland to identify more sustainable ways of working in the future.

“We would like to thank motorists for their continued patience throughout this programme of works and would urge them to plan their journeys in advance to avoid delays.”

Updates of the works will be posted on Twitter.

Log on to the Twitter site and search for http://twitter.com/M8_Jct5_to_Jct6 to become a follower.

Drivers can also visit www.trafficscotland.org for real time journey planning advice across Scotland’s trunk roads.