Roads update for week starting 26 August 2024

A summing up of road closures and delays due to works, events and cruise - for the week starting Monday 26 August 2024. 

Road works, closures and delays: 

Festive Lighting Anchor Testing 

From 26 August, for around a week, we’ll carry out testing of festive lighting anchor points in Kirkwall, Stromness and the Hup. Roads may close for short durations to enable crews to safely carry out the checks.  

At this stage and all going well we plan to be in Kirkwall on the 26th and 27th; St Margarets Hope on the 27th, and in Stromness on the 28th, affecting roads as below:  

• Kirkwall - will impact Albert Street; Bridge Street; Broad Street, Castle Street, from car park exit to Broad Street; Main Street; Palace Road from Broad Street to Watergate; and Victoria Street. 
• Stromness - will impact Ferry Road, from Stromness Ferry Terminal car park exit to Victoria Street; Victoria Street; and Graham Place. 
• St Margaret’s Hope - will impact Cromarty Square; and Back Road. 

Clay Loan / Manse Lane, Kirkwall 

Manse Lane will be closed from Monday 19 August 2024 for around 4 weeks to enable works to replace a sub-station at the junction with Manse Road and Clay Loan. As part of the works there will also be works being carried out on Clay Loan which will involve the road being narrowed slightly or for temporary traffic signals to be used as and when required. 

Resurfacing & Haunch Reconstruction  

Our Roads team will shortly be moving onto our surfacing and reconstruction works. Further information on these works will be provided in due course. Revised indicative dates and locations are as follows:   

• Ayre Road, Kirkwall - Tuesday 3 September to Monday 9 September. (Bus services will be affected – details to follow) 
• Marwick Drive (bus services will be affected – details to follow) - Tuesday 10 September to Friday 13 September 
• Back Road, St Margarets Hope - Monday 16 September to September to Monday 23 September. The X1 public bus and school transport bus #33 will be affected – details to follow. 
• Tingwall, Rendall – Skiddy Road to Gorseness Road – Monday 30 September to Monday 18 November 
• King Street, Kirkwall – Monday 25 November to Friday 20 December  

Surface Dressing 2024  

Our 2024 summer surface dressing works are nearing completion with follow-up line painting and sweeping at the sites - please be mindful of crews out and about at these locations:  

• A966, Birsay 
• Hundland Road, Birsay 
• Netherbrough Road, Harray 
• Stoneyhill Road, Harray 
• East Road, Kirkwall 
• Foreland Road, Kirkwall 
• Marwick Drive, Kirkwall 
• Mooney Drive, Kirkwall 
• Germistion Road, Orphir 
• A967, Sandwick 
• Brodgar Road, Sandwick 
• Swartland Road, Sandwick 
• A961, South Ronaldsay 
• Shore Road, St Andrews 
• Garson Road, Stromness 

Germiston Road, Orphir   

Germiston Road will be closed between Nisthouse and Eastaben Farm during week commencing Monday 2 September 2024 to enable survey works to be carried out. Further details of the work and roads closure will be supplied in due course. 

Old Finstown Road, Glaitness Road, Kirkwall

Streetlighting works are planned between Liberator Drive and Soulisquoy Loan during week starting Monday 23 September 2024. There will be temporary traffic signals in use for the duration of the works which are expected to take around 12 weeks to complete. 

Holm Road (A961), Kirkwall 

To enable distillery maintenance works there will be multiple short duration road closures on the A961 at at Highland Park Distillery from 15 April 2024 to early November 2024. Closures will be up to 20 minutes and carried out so as to avoid ferry traffic, commuter traffic and bus services. 

A960, St Andrews & Toab  

Scottish Water works are ongoing with the possibility that there may be the need to use temporary traffic lights on the A960 between the Groatsetter Road and the Stembister Road during the next few weeks as work progresses, which will have an effect on the No3 bus service (Deerness – Tankerness) and general traffic in the area of the works.  

There will also be some work taking place on the Tankerness Hall Road near Whitecrest Park / Whitecleat which are also likely to cause some delays to traffic over the next couple of weeks. 

Cruise update:  

Anticipated road closures in Kirkwall for the week ahead in relation to cruise liner visits are as follows. Please note this information may change at short notice due to bad weather or as passenger numbers are confirmed.  

• Saturday 31 August - closure of Albert Street and Bridge Street, Kirkwall, between the hours of 10am and 4pm. 

Check the anticipated road closures for the 2024 tourism season in the public notice at https://www.orkney.gov.uk/latest-news/the-orkney-islands-council-cruise-liners-temporary-closure-order-2024/