Question reference: S6W-07773
- Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 29 March 2022
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Current status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 29 March 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government when works will be complete to allow the new link road to open to traffic on the A92/A96 Haudagain Improvement project.
Answer
The construction of the A92/A96 Haudagain Improvement project is well advanced.
In December 2021 my predecessor announced a revised anticipated date for completion of works allowing roads to open to traffic by the end of March 2022. This revised completion date was based on the latest information reported by the Contractor at the time and was subject to no further disruption occurring due to events such as adverse weather and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Contractor has reported impacts to programme critical work since then due to adverse weather, including a number of high profile named Storms all having an impact on the works (Storm Malik, Storm Corrie, Storm Dudley and Storm Eunice) in addition to cold temperatures causing ground frosts that have prevented programme critical road surfacing works being progressed. This has been compounded by ongoing disruption to the workforce as a result of COVID-19, with over 40% of the on-site workforce having to isolate due to COVID-19 earlier this month, and continued supply chain issues.
In light of the above, I can advise that based on the latest information from the Contractor I now anticipate that the works will be complete to allow the new link road to open to traffic by mid-May 2022 at the latest, although the Contractor is hoping to achieve an earlier date if possible, subject to no further disruption occurring due to adverse weather or the COVID-19 pandemic.
Transport Scotland will continue to engage with the Contractor to ensure that any risks to programme are mitigated where possible and to explore all opportunities to better this anticipated completion date.