Kessock Bridge work complete
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MOTORISTS have been praised for helping reduce traffic as the £80,000 Kessock Bridge repairs were carried out.
Scotland Transerv completed the roadworks five hours ahead of schedule yesterday, after eight days of disruption.
The busy section of the A9 is now fully open and back to normal.
Peak time queues of up to 75 minutes were predicted but these did not materialise after motorists appeared to heed calls to use public transport, car share or work from home.
Bridge traffic dropped by a third from an average of 3000 per hour during peak times to 2000.
"We would like to thank the public for their huge contribution to the success of these works," said Calum Galloway, Scotland Transerv’s bridges manager.
"There was a tremendous response from the public to our appeal, with up to a third less vehicles travelling over the bridge during these emergency works
"We would like to thank everyone for their efforts in leaving the car at home or avoiding travelling at peak times hence making a big difference."
A contraflow system was put in place during the work and the speed limit was reduced from 70mph to 30mph throughout.
It caused delays of up to 28 minutes at worst during the week.
The unplanned work was announced after an inspection of the 30-year-old bridge last month discovered damage to an expansion joint. Remedial works to the road surface also took place while the lanes were closed.
