A 50mph speed limit will be placed on a four-mile stretch of the A9 just north of Perth for 18 months as construction begins on the Cross Tay Link Road project.
The restriction will be enforced on the Inveralmond Roundabout heading north as earthworks start on site for the £118 million major road structure this month.
A key part of the project will be upwards of one million cubic metres of earth being moved - the equivalent of filling more than four hundred Olympic-sized swimming pools.
All of this material will stay on site to be redeployed elsewhere on the job and ensure that the absolute minimum amount of material is brought on site from elsewhere.
Main contractor BAM Nuttall’s project manager Derek Walsh said: “To help keep carbon emissions to a minimum, this project has been designed to recycle every tonne of earth that needs to be moved.
“All earth excavations will be moved to form other features over the course of the construction.”
The Cross Tay project involves the construction of a new three-span bridge over the River Tay and six kilometres of new road linking the A9 with the A93 and the A94 north of Scone.
It also includes the realignment of two kilometres of dual carriageway on the A9 just north of Inveralmond Roundabout.
The new road aims to significantly reduce traffic congestion and related pollution in Perth city centre, but has been met with sustained resistance by local community groups and residents.
It is the largest infrastructure project Perth and Kinross Council has ever undertaken.
Perth and Kinross Council’s roads infrastructure manager Jillian Ferguson said: “By keeping all earth movements within the site boundary, we have in place a sustainable plan that will prevent extra construction traffic being added to the roads network as a result of earthworks operations, with the increased pressure that would put on traffic flows in and around the city.”
The Cross Tay Link Road is Phase Two of the Perth Transport Futures project.
