Planning permission has been granted by The Highland Council for Railtrack to proceed with the £750,000 replacement of the deck of the Clachnaharry Bridge, Inverness.

Work is set to start in October as this is considered to be the least disruptive time for construction.

The replacement will involve: -

Single lane closure of the A 862 for eight weeks;

Total lane closure to allow night time working during this period (midnight – 5 am);

24-hour closure of the road for three weeks;

Night-time closure of the access road to Mid Street for a period of three weeks on reopening of the A 862 to enable construction of the new parapet.

It is intended that two of the three weeks of complete closure should co-incide with the October school holiday break. The existing width of the bridge and road alignment will remain unaltered. Due to the replacement of safety barriers, it is necessary to provide traffic lights at the junction of the A 862 and Mid Street, Clachnaharry. These will be situated to the north and south of the bridge on the A 862 and at Mid Street.

In the meantime, a temporary weight restriction is to be imposed on the bridge with effect from Monday 11 March. The limit will be 7.5 tonnes. An exemption has been given by Railtrack for service and school buses and emergency vehicles. More than 30 road signs advising of the restriction are presently being produced.