Road works update for week starting 14 November

Drainage survey work is planned to start in central Kirkwall on 14 November, affecting Junction Road, Great Western Road and West Tankerness Lane, with road closures in place during the day all week. Signed diversion routes via Great Western Road will be in place. Motorists are encouraged to follow the signed diversion routes as they will likely provide better traffic flow than alternative ‘shortcuts’.

Work to install the Council’s festive ‘string’ lighting in Kirkwall, Stromness and St Margaret’s Hope will be carried out between Tuesday 22 and Thursday 24 November, as follows:

• Tuesday 22 November at Cromarty Square in St Margaret’s Hope. The work will be carried out under short duration road closures and is planned to minimise disruption to school, bus and ferry traffic.
• Wednesday 23 November, in Stromness, from Pierhead to Graham Place. The work will be carried out under road closure conditions which will cause traffic disruption in the area.
• Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 November evenings, in central Kirkwall affecting Albert Street, Bridge Street, Broad Street, Main Street and Victoria Street. Work is planned to be carried out in the evenings between 6pm and 10pm and will be carried out under road closure conditions.

Work to replace the collapsed retaining wall at the junction of Hammar Road and the A966 (near the turnoff to Tingwall ferry terminal) is programmed to start week commencing Monday 21 November, and is expected to take until the end of February 2023 to complete. Motorists are advised the current traffic management arrangements which have been in place for a number of months now will change from Monday 21 November to allow contractors to take down and replace the damaged wall. While traffic will continue to be controlled by temporary traffic lights, the length of road under traffic control will increase and the road width will be reduced to single lane. This is to protect workers and to enable part of the existing road to be excavated in preparation for wall foundations to be laid. Motorists are asked to be mindful of these changes and to drive accordingly. Meanwhile, there are still traffic lights in place to control traffic and a temporary barrier in place.

Road works and road closures are ongoing on the B9055 Brodgar Road and are expected to continue into mid December, carried out in four phases. Note that Phase 1 is almost complete and Phase 2 (from Ring of Brodgar car park to Buckan Cottage) is expected to start early next week. Signed diversion routes will be in place for duration via Harray and Dounby (the A986) or A967 Sandwick Road, and at times via the Lyking Road. These are relatively lengthy diversions so drivers should allow extra time for their journeys. The works will impact on public bus Service 8 (Quoyloo service) - buses will not serve Brodgar Road and will follow the signed diversions. The works will be carried out in four stages – please note the dates are indicative and subject to weather and resourcing:

• Phase 1 Layby at Standing Stones of Stenness to Ring of Brodgar car park - 19 October to 14 November
• Phase 2 Ring of Brodgar car park to access to Buckan Cottage - 11 to 16 November
• Phase 3 Buckan to Lyking Road – 17 to 23 November
• Phase 4 Lyking Road to A967 - 24 November to 2 December

Work is ongoing on the Harray Road (A986) to fix a collapsed culvert which has been causing flooding on the road between Grimeston Road and Refuge Corner. At the moment, crews are off site but there is steel-plating in place over the road until the crews return to finish the culvert replacement, at which point temporary traffic lights will be reinstated. Drivers are asked to heed any speed signs for the safety of workers exposed to traffic. There will be slight delays for public bus Service 7 (Birsay-Dounby).

Work by Scottish Water is ongoing on Glaitness Road, Kirkwall, with temporary traffic lights in place.

Looking ahead:

Openreach are planning to carry out work on Yinstay Road from 21 November 2022 with a current completion date of 21 January 2023. Further information on access during the work will hopefully be available shortly.

Work is currently planned to take place on the Quoyloo Road from 5 to 9 December 2022 with the work being carried out under road closure conditions. The road will be closed from West Bain to Kierfiold Farm, and a signed diversion route will be in place via Loch of Skaill for the duration of the work on site. There's no impact on public buses, and school bus services will be accommodated.

Work is planned to take place on the Yesnaby Road on 12 to 14 December 2022 , with the road being closed whilst work is being carried out on site. Delays to affected properties will be minimised when possible.

Resurfacing works on the Holm Road/Easdale loan junction is planned to start on 4 January 2023, for around four days. (These are works rescheduled from October to allow Openreach to repair a manhole in the vicinity.) This will see Easdale Loan being closed to through traffic and temporary traffic lights in place. The No 9 Town service will experience minor delays, and there will be a short diversion for the No 4 Airport bus, but passengers will be able to pick the bus up at both the top or the bottom of Easdale loan.

Work is planned to start on the A964 between Scorradale Road and Gyre Road (in vicinity of Nealand Kennels) on 9 January 2023. It is likely the work will need to be carried out under road closure conditions, but this has yet to be confirmed. Further details including impacts on school transport and/or public buses (Service 2 – Houton) will follow.