A local councillor has expressed disappointment claiming a “lack of community engagement” over major roadworks taking place on two of Perthshire ’s motorways.
Councillor Angus Forbes, who represents the Carse of Gowrie ward for the Scottish Conservatives, was contacted by concerned residents of St Madoes and Errol after BEAR Scotland announced two sections of the A90 and two sections of the M90 at Barnhill near Perth will undergo resurfacing works over the next four weeks.
The project is taking place in phases until completion on March 21, with a number of on and off-slips to be closed overnight during this time and traffic calming measures introduced with diversions in place.
The project was expected to start on February 20, however Cllr Forbes has argued the announcement of the works only appeared on the BEAR website two days prior with no consultation with his constituents.
He feels it is not enough time to help prepare those who need to travel to Perth, with the possibility of travel delays.
“Over the weekend I had a number of constituents get in touch with me to ask if I had any further information about the planned works which will affect them if they need to travel to Perth,” he said.
“It seems that BEAR Scotland only announced the works on their website on the 18th with works due to start on the 20th, just two days later.
“I have not had any communication from BEAR in advance of these works and I simply don’t believe that a scheme of this size was decided upon just two days before it starts.
“Had they contacted myself or other local councillors we could have advised our constituents well in advance to give them more time to plan their work schedule around the inevitable delays.
“I have no issue with the work being done, in fact I welcome any investment in the road network but to drop a scheme of this scale onto the local residents with so little notice is simply not acceptable.
“I hope that in the future BEAR who are doing this work on behalf of the Scottish Government will provide much more advanced warning for roadworks.”
BEAR Scotland stated: “Consultation has taken place with all relevant stakeholders in advance of the surfacing improvements to make them aware of the traffic management arrangements.”
In response, a spokesperson for BEAR Scotland said: “We regret that local residents have expressed a lack of community engagement as we are always eager to give as much notice as possible about potential works.
“We recognise that roadworks can cause temporary disruption but these schemes are essential to ensure the integrity and strength of the road surface by addressing defects that impact on the safety of motorists.
“We started the consultation process for the M90 and A90 surfacing project earlier this month and as part of the process we informed all relevant stakeholders of the proposed works, including Perth and Kinross Council, local bus operators and Police Scotland.
“This also included letter drops to residents in the vicinity of the M90 junction eleven northbound off-slip and our teams visited Willowgate Activity Centre to inform them about the upcoming works in the Barnhill area.
“Temporary electronic signs were also erected at either end of Barnhill in advance of the works getting underway to advise motorists.
“We’re continuing to carry out further consultation ahead of the second and third phase of works programmed to take place on the A90 Walnut Grove to Barnhill and on the M90 junction eleven southbound on-slip.”
