A86 trunk road to be closed for nine days by Newtonmore from end of this week

The A86 is to be closed by Newtonmore for nine days from the end of this week.

A round the clock road closure is being put in place from Friday for the safety of workers whilst £980,000 worth of surfacing improvements are carried out over one kilometre by Creagdubh.

The project will see the use of in-situ recycling which involves pulverising the existing road.

Materials are then graded and compacted before traditional surfacing takes place.

In situ recycling means the entire existing road is kept in place and re-used.

This will save over 7000 tonnes of material from being disposed and replaced as well as 103,500 fewer miles to transport materials.

The works are programmed for nine days, with works scheduled to take place consecutively where possible.

All works are expected to be completed by 7am on Monday 23 October, subject to weather conditions.

A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: "Unfortunately, due to restricted road widths through this section of the A86, the carriageway will be under 24 hour road closure in both directions to ensure the safety of our roadworkers and motorists."

Eastbound traffic will be diverted along the A889 to Dalwhinnie and then up the A9 northbound to Kingussie.

The A86 eastbound will be accessible up to Balgowan Road (1.5 miles north of Laggan). Westbound traffic will be diverted down the A9 southbound to Dalwhinnie and then up the A889 to Laggan.

The A86 westbound will be accessible up to Biallid House (1.2 miles south of Newtonmore).

Emergency services will be able to pass through the works at all times.

Eddie Ross, BEAR Scotland’s North West Representative, said “This £980,000 investment from Transport Scotland will greatly improve the quality and safety of this section on the A86.

“The traffic management is essential in ensuring the safety of our roadworkers as well as motorists.

"Our teams will do all they can to complete the works as quickly and safely as possible.

“The use of an innovative recycling technique allows the job to be undertaken considerably quicker than using traditional methods and saves quarrying and using 7,000 tonnes of virgin aggregate. "The reduction of mileage to transport materials alone will reduce carbon emissions by almost 98,000 tonnes.

“We thank the local community and road users for their patience in advance while we complete this project. We encourage motorists to plan ahead before setting out by checking the Traffic Scotland website for up-to-date travel information.”

Real-time journey planning information can be obtained by visiting www.traffic.gov.scot or twitter @trafficscotland.

The works are weather dependant and in the event of unforeseen weather conditions the above timescales for traffic management may have to be extended until works are completed.

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.