Roads update for week starting 26 May 2025
Date: 23 May 2025
Time: 01:00
A summing up of road delays and closures due to road and building/utility works, cruise visits and events - for the week starting Monday 26 May 2025.
You can zoom in for a detailed view of roadworks carried out by the Council at www.orkney.gov.uk/roads
Road works and closures by other bodies are published on the Scottish Road Works Commissioner website https://roadworks.scot/
Anticipated closures related to cruise line visits for the 2025 season can be viewed here – please note these can be cancelled at short notice due to changes in confirmed passengers numbers or bad weather cancellations by liners. The Orkney Islands Council (Cruise Liners) (Temporary Closure) Order 2025
Community Events and Cruise
Cruise related closures for the week of 26 May – 1 June 2025 inclusive are as follows:
- Tuesday 27 May - Bridge Street and Albert Street, Kirkwall, will close between the hours of 10am and 4pm
- Thursday 29 May - Bridge Street and Albert Street, Kirkwall, will close between the hours of 10am and 4pm.
Community event reminders for this weekend:
22-25 May - Orkney Folk Festival – Central Stromness
Roads will be closed in central Stromness as follows for the Orkney Folk Festival:
-
Ferry Road (from Ferry Terminal carpark exit to Victoria Street), all Stromness, from 8am on Thursday 22 May 2025 to 23:59pm on Sunday 25 May 2025; and
-
Victoria Street (from John Street to Church Road); and John Street (from No 27 to Victoria Street), all Stromness, on Saturday 24 May 2025 from 10am to 6pm, and Sunday 25 May 2025 from 10am to 6pm; and
-
Parking will also be prohibited between 8am on Thursday 22 May 2025 and 23:59pm on Sunday 25 May 2025, within certain bays on Victoria Street and Ferry Road.
-
Full details here : https://www.orkney.gov.uk/latest-news/the-orkney-islands-council-orkney-folk-festival-temporary-closure-order-2025/
Saturday 24 May: Kirkwall City Pipe Band
Roads in central Kirkwall will close on Saturday 24 May 2025 from 1830 until 2030 for a Kirkwall City Pipe Band parade. Roads affected are: Albert Street, between its junctions with Laing Street and Broad Street; Broad Street, between its junction with Albert Street and Palace Road; and Castle Street, from Broad Street to car park exit on Castle Street. You can view more details and look ahead to other coming KCPB parades at Kirkwall City Pipe Band Parades
Starting in week commencing 26 May 2025:
Junction Rd/New Scapa Rd/Wellington St
From Monday 26 May, Scottish Water will be carrying out works to repair manholes covers along Junction Road/ New Scapa Rd and Wellington Street. Closures will be in place from and including the junctions at Wellington Street/Main Street to Manse Road and works are expected to take around one week to complete. All public buses will experience delays and will not be able to serve that section of Junction Road and New Scapa Road, diverting instead via Clay Loan and Holm Branch Road to and from the Balfour Hospital. There will be a right turn only at the bottom of Clay Loan/Union Street onto Junction Road for all traffic.
A965 (main Dounby to Finstown road) near Stoneyhill Road Junction
From Monday 26 May OIC will be carrying out repairs on a damaged section of barrier. The work will be carried out under four-way way temporary traffic signals and is expected to take around a week to complete. The traffic signals will only be in place during the working day and will cause delays to all traffic on the A965.
Surface dressing - various locations
Surface dressing update as at 3pm Friday 23 May 2025. Crews are finishing up today at Nethertown Rd (Stromness) - moving onto Gyre Road (Orphir) starting Wednesday 28 May, and Orquil Road (St Ola) on Friday 30 May.
Please note there will still be some disruption to traffic after roads have reopened whilst we carry out sweeping and white line replacement – please heed the temporary speed limits for everyone’s safety and to help the new chips bed in.
The annual surface dressing road works started on 14 May 2025 and are expected to take around eight weeks to complete. All surfacing works are planned to be carried out under road closure conditions which will affect all traffic with the exception of school transport. Further detail of the roads affected are available here - all dates are indicative and subject to change due to weather: https://www.orkney.gov.uk/latest-news/drive-with-care-as-2025-road-works-season-ramps-up/.
Interim updates are issued via the following channels:
- Telegram: t.me/OIC_Roads
- Facebook: facebook.com/oicupdates
- Website: www.orkney.gov.uk (look for the social media panel)
Ongoing closures and delays:
Outertown Road, Stromness
SSEN have now a temporary bridge on Outertown Road which is now in use and is likely to remain in place until September 2025.
Junction Road, Kirkwall (near Albert Hotel)
Junction Road near the Albert Hotel still has some restrictions and delays as work remains ongoing at the site. A scaffold tower is still in place at the hotel which will restrict the free flow of traffic and there may be short road closures during the working day to enable materials to be delivered.
-End of update -
-
Category:
- Roads, Lighting and Parking
- Transport
- Service Disruptions
