By Bruce Robbins

LONG-SUFFERING Dundee drivers are being subjected to another prolonged bout of motoring disruption as chaos descends on the city with the start of roadworks on three key routes.

Work on Kingsway, Dock Street and Riverside Avenue, among the busiest roads in the city, will test the patience of motorists to the limit, with long delays expected, particularly for peak-time traffic.

The installation of traffic lights in place of the double roundabout set-up at the Kingsway/Forfar Road junction will bring rush hour misery for the next 32 weeks. Work is due to start on Monday.

The Riverside Avenue job, meanwhile, will get under way tomorrow and the road will be closed for the next 11 days for surface improvements, cycleway widening and new street lighting. Diversions will be put in place.

Today will also see the off-peak closure of lanes in both directions on Dock Street between East Marketgait and Broughty Ferry Road for “carriageway investigation” works. This will take place between 7.30pm and 6.30am for the next five nights.

The good news for motorists crossing the Tay is the removal of bridge tolls at 00.01 on Monday which is expected to reduce rush-hour congestion and ease the passage of traffic along Riverside Drive, South Marketgait and Dock Street.

The Kingsway/Forfar Road work is deemed necessary to enable the junction to cope with increased traffic flows to the new Morrisons supermarket on the site of the former Linlathen High School.

Drivers had to put up with months of disruption last year whilst work on the Forfar Road/Fountainbleau Drive/Claverhouse Road was taking place for the same reason.

Lane closures reduced vehicles to a crawl during rush hour the second half of the year, with queues snaking back to the Glamis Road and Pitkerro Road junctions.

Again, contractors Malcolm Construction are promising that delays will be kept to a minimum.

A spokesman added, “Most of the traffic management will be off peak unless we can keep two lanes flowing. There will be some night work as well.”

The first stage of the work will be to widen the junction with Forfar Road on the south side of the Kingsway.

Transport Scotland is the authority with overall responsibility for the trunk road network and a spokeswoman said, “Analysis undertaken, prior to planning consent being agreed, indicated that this major development would add additional traffic to an already very busy section of the A90 trunk road.

“It is therefore essential that these mitigating measures…are now completed to help traffic flow freely.”

Although Riverside Avenue will be closed to all traffic from tomorrow at the roundabout next to the Marmalade Pot back to Wright Avenue, access will be maintained along Riverside Drive to Dundee Airport and the surrounding industrial units.

Traffic will be diverted via Perth Road, Hawkhill, West Marketgait, South Marketgait and return.

The Marmalade Pot roundabout will not be affected by the works but the three-ton weight limit at the railway bridge leading to the botanic gardens means that only cars will be able to use this route.

There will be restricted access from the west on Riverside Avenue to allow vehicles to get to and from Wright Avenue and the city council’s recycling centre. Pedestrian access will be maintained while the work is carried out.

The Dock Street work, which will also see a 40mph limit in place, will lead to “inevitable” delays, according to Bear Scotland

The road company, which is responsible for trunk road maintenance in north-east Scotland on behalf of Transport Scotland, added, “Motorists should be aware that temporary traffic management will change as work progresses.”

Meanwhile, Monday will be a historic day with the removal of tolls on the Tay Road Bridge—over 41 years after they were introduced to pay for the construction and maintenance of the bridge.

The Scottish Parliament agreed to scrap the levy after a campaign spearheaded by The Courier. A toll-free day during a strike by Unison members in 2006 led to traffic flowing freely over the river and it is expected that there will be similar benefits for motorists from Monday morning.