It’s a green light for Bellshill town centre’s action plan as extensive roadworks are set to get underway on Monday 29 May.

The work being undertaken consists of constructing a roundabout at the junction of Gartcosh Walk and Belgrave Street, realignment of a section of Main Street and alterations to the access serving Cardinal Newman High School.

Already advanced service diversion work for the first phase of the town centre improvements has been completed and the main contract will get underway on the 29^th of May. The works, which will be ongoing for a period of six months, see an investment by the council of £1m for the first phase.

To carry out this work safely, Gartcosh Walk and Belgrave Street traffic will be controlled using temporary traffic signals. In order to minimise any delays, two-way traffic will be maintained on Gartcosh Walk at peak times and manual control will be provided if required.

Planned work being carried out along the front of Cardinal Newman High School will take place during the school summer holiday period. This will alleviate any access difficulties that would have occurred during the normal school term and reduce congestion in this area when pupils are travelling to and from school.

On completion, this work will provide direct access to Main Street from Gartcosh Walk without the need to travel through the town centre. This new link must be in place and enhanced by other measures before the improvement works contained in the next phase of Bellshill town centre’s action plan can be progressed.

Tom Peebles, Traffic and Transportation Team Leader said, "Before extensive works like these get underway a lot of planning and organisation takes place behind the scenes. This covers issues such as road and pedestrian safety and how to minimise any disruption experienced by motorists, local businesses and pedestrians.

"These works will take some time to complete and will be carried out on a phased basis. Initially, these will be coinciding with the school summer holidays, which means fewer cars on the roads.

"However, drivers should be aware that the initial stage of the works will also coincide with ongoing work being undertaken by Scottish Gas Network at Mossend. This may result in further delays. I would urge motorists to allow extra time for their journeys and be patient as these works progress.

"Bellshill town centre’s action plan will deliver many benefits to the area, its residents and local businesses including improving the local environment, delivering retail vitality, increasing parking opportunities, improving pedestrian routes and enhancing road safety."

Ends.