Bridge work continues until May

Road will remain closed for another seven weeks

Works to repair the Ballat Bridge near Balfron are set to continue until May.

Motorists on the A81 will continue to face disruption with a stretch of the road between Balfron Station and Ballat Crossroads to remain closed for another seven weeks.

Scottish Water say that the works will be completed on the week beginning May 7 and associated road closures will be lifted at that time.

The bridge over the A81 was damaged in September 2016 when it was hit by the arm of an earthmover which was on a lorry passing underneath the structure.

The bridge is owned by Scottish Water and carries water mains from Loch Katrine to Glasgow.

The temporary road closure was put in place last September and was expected to reopen at the completion of the project in December.

However it was announced in November that this wouldn’t be the case as works were taking longer than anticipated.

A new spring completion date was then announced, much to the dismay of many residents and businesses local to the area.

Stirling MSP Bruce Crawford and Trossachs and Teith councillor Martin Earl both wrote to Scottish Water to express their concerns.

Scottish Water last week said that their teams were working long hours in a bid to have the works completed as quickly as possible – and that the week beginning May 7 would see the project come to an end.

Ruaridh MacGregor, regional corporate affairs manager, said: “With Stirling Council’s approval we’ve recently extended our working week to seven days from 8am to 6pm to push this work on.

“We thank everyone for their patience and understanding whilst this essential work is carried out and we’d like to remind the public that local traders and companies remain open for business as usual while the road closure remains in place.”

Existing diversions along the B834, A809 and A811 will remain in place.

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