Roadworks that caused months of delays on the A77 in Ayrshire have come in more than £200,000 over budget, although Transport Scotland have hailed the road safety junction improvements at Doonholm Road and Corton Road a ‘success’.
A freedom of information request from Ayrshire Live revealed that the total spend for the project was £847,441.20 – £222,422.59 more than the initial estimate, says the Daily Record.
However, no accidents have been reported at the junction since the works finished in April – a “significant improvement” according to Transport Scotland.
Businesses and road users faced five months of disruption at the junction as safety improvement works took place to install a new traffic light system. In July an overnight closure of Doonholm Road and Corton Road took place as “snagging works” and “essential traffic signal detection installation” were undertaken to complete the project.
Budget overspends were caused by “associated uplifts” in cost estimates as a result of overnight working and “variations in the areas of surfacing required”.
Information provided by Transport Scotland also outlined why a signal-controlled staggered junction was chosen as the final design – a design which initially caused some delays due to the “temporary fixed timings” used.
Road safety improvements were needed due to “collisions at the staggered junction involved turning vehicles”.
In response, Transport Scotland said that an electronic ‘Vehicles Turning’ sign was considered but, due to “the significant volume of right turns”, other solutions were explored. A roundabout was discounted due to “the wider footprint required”.
Pedestrian crossings were considered as part of the scheme but none were included for pedestrians crossing the A77 as the proposed Corton development would include a separate footbridge nearby for walking, cycling and horse riding.
According to Transport Scotland, traffic detection equipment “is installed after the traffic signal installation is complete” as the location of the sensors is only decided after “drive-through inspections of the open junction and traffic calculations completed by a Traffic Signal Engineer”.
(Pic: Mapillary)
