MOTORISTS SHOULD be able to get over the Forth Road Bridge a bit more quickly over the next couple of months, with weekend roadworks suspended for the tourist season.

Queues at the bridge met long delays at weekends, when a contraflow was in place to allow contractor Tarmac to carry out essential maintenance on the northbound carriageway.

Around 220 sub- contracted employees worked round the clock in shifts to complete the first phase of resurfacing and waterproofing the carriageway.

However, adverse weather conditions in recent weeks slowed progress and the work had to be cancelled altogether on May 18, putting the project behind schedule.

Alastair Andrew, Forth Estuary Transport Authority general manager and bridgemaster, said the work would recommence the weekend of September 7.

He said, “The increasing weight and volume of traffic using the Forth Road Bridge means that we have to resurface much more frequently than in the past.

“What’s more, the unique design of the bridge’s carriageway means that this work has to be carried out by hand, with a continuous period of dry weather.

“We’ll restart work on September 7 as planned and continue until the job is done, but we’ll need a run of good weather if we’re to finish before the end of October.”

Around 30% fewer vehicles than normal used the bridge during the works.

However, delays were still significant, with queues of up to 90 minutes recorded on the A8000 northbound and up to an hour on the A90 southbound.