Diversions and changes to public bus timetables will be in place from this Monday (16 April) while vital road work is carried out by the Council on Junction Road and New Scapa Road in Kirkwall.
The work is programmed to last for six weeks. It will see the section of road between Hornersquoy (the turnoff from New Scapa Road into the main Balfour Hospital entrance) to the roundabout at the junction of Pickaquoy Road and Junction road closed to all vehicular through traffic.
A signed diversion route (via Old Finstown Road, Sunnybank Road and the main Stromness-to-Kirkwall A965 road) will be in place for the duration of the works. A map showing the diversion route is available in the 'Related Downloads' section below.
Vehicular access to businesses and properties located within the site area will be maintained as far as possible, but access will be dependent on the nature of works being carried out at any particular time and will be at the discretion of site staff and there may be delays.
Pedestrian access will be maintained at all times.
Darren Richardson, Head of Infrastructure and Strategic Projects, said: “We do appreciate these works involve disruption over several weeks.
“But they are vital works which will enable us to renew a very busy section of road which sees heavy traffic and has had a lot of demands placed on it over the last several years.
“We’ll be addressing issues such as rippling on the road surface, and replacing or resetting manhole covers, and evening out sections where there has been tracks dug and patched.
“We’ll also be taking the opportunity to check on some of the drainage in the area.
“The signed diversion is a lengthy one but it is the shortest route safe for all vehicles to use, avoiding any roads with weight limits or narrow points.
“We’ve been in contact with residents and businesses in the areas affected to advise them of the extent of the works and how they can report any issues. We’ll try and keep congestion and disruption to a minimum however if anyone wishes to contact the Council with issues arising from the works, please call customer services on 87 35 35 and ask to speak to the Roads Support Team.
“We’ve also been working closely with Stagecoach and our transport colleagues here at the Council to plot out and test necessary changes to bus routes, so that they can cover as much as their usual routes as possible.”
Public service buses will be unable to serve via Clay Loan and Junction Road during the roadworks. This affects the X1 (St Margarets Hope to Kirkwall), Service 4 (Airport) and Service 9 (Kirkwall Town Service) routes.
Arrangements for those routes during the period of the road works are as follows:
- The X1 Service will operate via the Meadows and round Carness Road as opposed to serving Holm Branch Road, New Scapa Road and Junction Road. This may result in some timetable disruption and delays.
- The Service 4 will temporarily move from a half hourly to hourly service, departing quarter past the hour from the Kirkwall Travel Centre. Journeys currently scheduled to depart quarter to the hour from the travel centre will not operate during this time. Clay Loan and New Scapa Road (Balfour Hospital) will not be served during this time. Instead, the service will operate via Easdale Loan, Holm Branch Road (It will turn at the new roundabout at Foreland Road), Holm Road, Bignold Park Road, Dundas Crescent, School Place and Carness Road in both directions while Junction Road is closed.
- The Service 9 timetable will operate an amended and reduced service during the period of works in order to largely retain the existing hourly timetable. This route will also operate via Carness Road whilst Junction Road is closed.
Further information on the revised Service 4 and Service 9 bus timetables being implemented during the period of the road works is available in the 'Related Downloads' section below. Paper copies will be available on the service buses and from the Kirkwall Travel Centre. For ‘live’ bus timetable information, whereby your bus can be tracked, please visit the Stagecoach app – or call Stagecoach on 870555.
