Bishopbriggs relief road speed limit set

Bishopbriggs Relief Road has been one the drawing board for many years but is now nearly half completed - with the third of five parts of the road currently under construction.

Machinery moved onto the site of the third phase of the road late last year and is expected to take until the summer to complete.

Last week councillors at East Dunbartonshire Council’s neighbourhood services committee were presented with a report on the proposed speed limit for the stretch of road - extending from Auchinairn Road to Wester Cleddens Road and including the construction of a roundabout at Wester Cleddens Road.

Council officers reported that “in the interests of road safety” the limit would be 50mph along the whole stretch of road, adding that “formal consultations on the proposal have been carried out by neighbourhood services with ward members and with statutory consultees, and no objections have been received.”

Developers Taylor Wimpey West Scotland are building the latest section of road.

The road building coincides with construction of 196 homes to the east of Miller Drive and Auchinairn Road and is covered by a legal agreement as part of their planning permission.

Willie Burns, Managing Director for Taylor Wimpey West Scotland, said: “Our programme to deliver this phase of the Relief Road will take around 12 months, and we know that it will make a huge difference to the local community in reducing congestion and journey times.”

But there’s still no firm date for the completion of the road, with NO projected start date for the final phase.

Thomas Glen, the council’s director of development and regeneration said: “As the name suggests, the Bishopbriggs relief road is designed to encourage traffic away from residential Bishopbriggs streets.

“As there are no buildings near the road and few connecting roads, the relief road can have a higher speed limit, but this has been restricted to 50mph because of the short distance between the roundabouts at Auchinairn Road and Westerhill Road. Rather than have a series of different speed limits, which drivers can find confusing, the safest option was to apply a 50mph limit to the entire road.

“Phase three of the project will be completed by the summer, with phase four due to start by the end of 2014, with an 18 month build plan.”