New £ 30m bypass up for tender
Road campaigners celebrate
Diggers will start ripping up the land around Maybole as early as next year.
A £ 30m contract to build the town’s long overdue bypass has been put up for grabs to interested parties.
One of Scotland’s most dangerous High Streets will gain its long awaited relief following a 50- year safety battle. It follows government chiefs finally nailing their colours to the mast on a construction timetable.
A new road flanking the town to the west will divert trucks and port traffic from the painfully narrow town centre.
A contract notice has been advertised, calling on the construction industry to bid for the contract to build the A77 Maybole Bypass.
The notice, which outlines construction costs of approximately £ 30m, invites prospective bidders to formally apply to participate in the procurement to construct the bypass.
The successful bidder will be required to build approximately 5.2km of bypass and associated junctions.
Once complete the scheme will separate local road users from those travelling longer distances, including to the key ports of Stranraer and Cairnryan.
This will lead to improved road safety for local communities and road users, as well as providing better journey time reliability.
Minister for Transport & Islands, Humza Yousaf said: “The Scottish Government remains committed to delivering this strategic link, which serves the Ayrshire and Northern Ireland ferry ports, at the earliest possible opportunity.
“Completion will reduce the congestion within the town, bringing much needed relief for the local Maybole community whilst improving journey times for long distance road users.”
Contracts will be sold to whoever foots the bill with construction beginning in the autumn of next.
Holyrood bosses have put pen to paper in their latest Infrastructure Spending Plans, confirming full steam ahead for the project.
Skipping Maybole, the new road will run down the back of Carrick Academy and Gardenrose Primary towards Minishant and Ayr.
We told in January how Maybole man John Campbell, 67, had quit the SNP in disgust over a lack of diggers on the ground.
The retired firefighter and road campaigner for the A77 Action Group said: “This is the first stage of our ultimate end- game.
“We are relieved this has been announced and delighted for everyone in the town.
“A lot of people have criticised the Maybole residents, but at the end of the day the bypass is for everyone who lives and works south of Maybole.
“All the big lorries for Grants and so on will no longer terrorise the High Street.
“The next step for my group is to go to Edinburgh and meet with the Government and then we will get the MSPs to come down to assess the safety of the A77.”
Town councillor Brian Connolly said: “This is fantastic news.
“We have worked with ministers for a number of months and this is great news for the town that it’s finally being built.
“There are fears that it will be a ghost town when the bypass is built, but I think it will bring people back into the High Street.
“However, I remain sceptical until I see bulldozers rolling in to start the road.
“But I have to say if it goes ahead then all credit to the Government as they will be the first one’s to complete this seemingly impossible task.”
And Maybole Community Leader David Kiltie feels it’s about time.
He said: “It is wonderful to see and frankly unbelievable to see the whole project coming to fruition.
“We have been told for a while that 2018 is when the work would start - but now we have official confirmation it is all feeling real now.
Jeane Freeman, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, hailed the development as “great news”.
She said: “We are another step closer to this important project which is funded by the Scottish Government.
“The Maybole bypass is a very important and significant development for all the people in the local areas.”