Roads update for week starting 6 November (plus a few reminders for this weekend)

A summing up of road closures and delays due to works, events or cruise - for week starting Monday 6 November 2023.

Road works

East Kirk car park Kirkwall

The East Kirk car park in Kirkwall (Guide Hall car park) will be closed from late afternoon this Friday 3 November and throughout Saturday 4 November to enable high level surveys to be carried out on Saturday on the adjacent Council offices.

Laing Street, Kirkwall

Laing Street will be closed between 07:30 and 17:00 from Monday 6 November 2023 for approximately 4 weeks to enable building works on the Old Library to be carried out. Residents should present their recycling / waste bins as normal for collection.

A960 Kirkwall to Airport road - at junction with Quoydandy Branch Road.

Survey work in the area is planned during the week starting Monday 6 November 2023 - the Quoydandy Branch Road will be closed and temporary two way traffic signals in place on the A960 . It is expected that the survey should only take a day to complete but some delays to the No 3 (Deerness) and No 4 (Airport) bus services are likely.

Festive lighting (various locations)

Roads in central Kirkwall, Stromness and St Margarets Hope will be closed as needed for brief periods to ensure the safety of the public during the testing, repair, installation and removal of festive lighting in the county over coming months, starting Monday 6 November through to early February 2024. Roads affected are:

• Kirkwall - Albert Street; Bridge Street; Castle Street (car park exit to Broad Street); Main Street; Palace Road (Watergate to Broad Street); Victoria Street and Victoria Road (Watergate to Victoria Street).
• Stromness - Church Road; Dundas Street; Ferry Road (Ferry Terminal Car Park Exit to Victoria Street); Graham Place; John Street; and Victoria Street.
• St Margaret’s Hope - Back Road; Cromarty Square; Ontoft Road (Cromarty Square to Pier Road); and School Road.

During the coming week starting Monday 6 November, we plan to be installing festive lighting in each area, with each expected to be completed within one day. For Broad Street, Kirkwall, work is planned to take place between 6pm and 10pm under road closure conditions with access maintained for the No 4 bus services (Airport) with some minor delays. Work in St Margarets Hope will be carried out during the working day under road closure conditions avoiding school times, bus and ferry services.

View the public notice here https://www.orkney.gov.uk/News?postid=8316

B9050 Deerness

Work to replace the existing streetlights on the B9050 within the 40mph speed limit area started on 1 November 2023 and are currently programmed to take around 4 weeks to complete. Traffic is currently being controlled under priority signage but there may be times when temporary traffic signals may be used. Some delays at times for traffic and the No 3 (Deerness) public bus service.

A961 Churchill Barriers

Work to replace fence posts on the barriers have started and are expected to take a few weeks to complete and will affect all four barriers. Traffic will be controlled with priority signage and speed reduction measures, with some delays to the X1 (Stromness to St Margaret’s Hope) public bus service. Wherever possible works will take place outwith school transport times.

A966 Evie, near Evie Telephone Exchange

There is no work on site at the moment while design work is completed. When works restart there will be some delays to the No 6 (Tingwall) bus service.

A960 Tankerness Hall Road to Groatsetter Road

Works commenced on 26 October 2023 and are expected to take around three weeks to complete. The works will be carried out under temporary traffic signals with some delays to the traffic and the No 3 (Deerness) and No 4 (Airport) bus services.

A960, St Andrews & Toab

Scottish Water works are still ongoing but will be mainly off A960 and in fields during the next week or so.

Looking Ahead:

A966 Gorseness Road (Tingwall end) to Woodwick Road (areas of reconstruction) - currently planned to start mid November 2023 and take approximately four weeks to complete.

Looking further ahead:

• A961 Burray Village (carriageway reconstruction) - to be programmed
• A964 bends at Scapa Distillery and Smoogro Road to Orphir Village (carriageway reconstruction) - to be programmed
• A965 B9055 (Brodger Road) to Stenness Village (carriageway reconstruction) - to be programmed

Events

The public is reminded Pickaquoy Road will be closed on Saturday night (4 November) between 6:45pm and 10pm from its junction with Great Western Road and Muddisdale Road, for the Kirkwall and St Ola Community Council’s bonfire event. All bus services will be rerouted and all passengers are advised to board/disembark outwith the road closure area. Full details of the closure are available in the public notice https://www.orkney.gov.uk/News?postid=8234