Scottish Water has said that preliminary roadworks, to accommodate for the construction of a new roundabout on the A702 in north west Penicuik, will now continue through till next year.
The roadworks, which commenced in February this year, were originally scheduled to complete on July 8 but due to a revised timetable for the diversion of the affected water mains, the second stage of the three stage programme will now take place in October; the third and final stage following in early 2017.
These construction works are to divert a significant water mains pipe away from the land in which the new roundabout will be constructed, in place of the current Mauricewood Road and A702 T-junction. Whilst the majority of the work is being undertaken away from the road, with no disruption to the public, the three planned stages will cause disruption. The initial stage to erect concrete crash barriers took place earlier this year.
Stage two, which is now expected in October, will see the closure of Mauricewood Road for around two weeks. However, the utility company has iterated that access will be maintained for residents. It is anticipated that this will cause considerable disruption to commuters. The final stage will entail three way temporary traffic lights for between five and seven days, though further information will be made available nearer the time.
A spokesman for Scottish Water said:
We will endeavour to carry out each phase of the work in order to facilitate this development as quickly as possible.
We do not expect the revised timings to impact on the original amount of traffic management required to complete this project.
Farrans Construction are undertaking the preliminary works with Scottish Water on behalf of Taylor Wimpey, who are obligated to fund the roundabout’s construction as part of their section 75 developer contributions for Greenlaw Mill, a new 458 strong neighbourhood north of Greenlaw Mains. The project is expected to cost £4.7M and is part of a wider package of £7M worth of contributions to local infrastructure. The developer must complete all the road upgrades before their 25th dwelling is complete or their planning permission could be voided.
Last month, trunk route operator Amey South East of Scotland, told us that they anticipated the preliminary roundabout works to complete by 31 March 2017 with the major infrastructure project starting shortly after. Just how much disruption that phase will cause, won’t be known until detailed timings are released.
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