Long detours once work begins on Ettrick road's 'significant problems'
DRIVERS face long diversions for two months once work begins upgrading a remote Ettrick road, writes Sally Gillespie.
The 850,000 contract on an eight-mile stretch of the B709, starting next Monday, will take until mid-April, and means drivers taking the Ettrick Valley to Langholm back road face a lengthy round trip when it closes for repair.
But local Scottish Borders councillor Vicky Davidson has welcomed the start of the work.
“It will make a big difference to everyone using that road and hopefully strengthening it will remove the need for the constant running repairs required as it sinks and rises, and verges collapse.
“Scottish Borders Council (SBC) put in some passing places several years ago after some lobbying from me but there is still a significant problem with this road carrying large wagons when it doesn’t have strong enough foundations.”
The work, mostly Scottish Government-funded, includes installing large passing places, plus patching and resurfacing. And SBC has won the contract to carry out the improvements on the 4.5km (2.8-mile) Borders section.
The largely single-track road will be closed from The Gair to the Dumfries and Galloway border on Mondays to Fridays between 8.30am and 3pm.
It means drivers travelling between Ettrick and Eskdalemuir, which would usually be a 13-mile journey, will face a 52-mile diversion during those times.Councillor Davidson said: “The closure times have been fitted around the school bus and people travelling to work. It will be an inconvenience to some residents but I know most of them supported the bid and will look forward to the road being much-improved afterwards.”
The improvements are phase one of two in the Craik Timber Transport Project, with the majority of the money for the B709 coming from the Scottish Government-funded Timber Transport Fund (TTF). SBC put forward 100,000 and Dumfries and Galloway council also contributed, and will upgrade the 7.5km (4.7miles) on their side at the same time.
The overall cost for both phases will be more than 2.15million – 1.15million of which comes from the TTF – and the rest is made up from the councils, Forestry Enterprise Scotland and private forestry companies.
The second phase involves putting in a forest road from Gair Bridge to Craik village to channel logging trucks away from minor public roads and communities.
Speaking when the work was announced last October, Ettrick and Yarrow Community councillor Daphne Jackson, who lives at the head of the Ettrick Valley, said: “Everyone recognises that commercial timber is an industry, and that it has to be harvested, but the other industries in the valley are farming and tourism, and we all have to share the road.
“The timber wagons are enormous, very heavy, very long and often travel in convoys.
“They often go very fast, or it seems that way. Our roads were never built for heavy traffic – they’re very narrow, with soft verges and deep drains.
“You daren’t go off the road because you’ll go into a drain or a bog. It’s a huge problem.”
She welcomed the planned increase in passing places because there is also a problem with vehicles having to reverse long distances to allow passing.
“It’s a big worry to everybody so anything they can do to improve the road and take lorries off it is welcome.”
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Weather for Selkirk
Sunday 05 February 2012
Today
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Temperature: 1 C to 6 C
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Sunny spells
Temperature: -1 C to 5 C
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