Residents and workers in north east Fife are facing around two months of travel disruption next year when work steps up on the £25 million Fife Green Energy Centre.
The main A919 Guardbridge to St Andrews road will be closed from February 15 to April 8 to allow four miles of water pipe to be laid, connecting the new centre in Guardbridge with St Andrews and providing the essential infrastructure for ongoing inward investment into Fife, job creation, and renewable energy production.
The new energy centre is being developed by St Andrews University and will pump hot water to St Andrews where it will be used to heat and cool student residences and laboratories.
To ensure safety to road users and to keep disruption to a minimum, diversions will be in place through Balmullo, adding an extra 7.5 miles to journeys north of St Andrews and south of St Michaels.
Derek Watson, the university’s chief operating officer, said: “We are very sensitive to the fact that these works will cause varying levels of disruption to people who live or work in the Guardbridge, Leuchars and St Andrews areas, and we are very grateful for the support and consideration which the community has shown so far as we have developed our plans to establish Guardbridge as a major centre for renewable energy.”
The university added that it lobbied for permission to undertake the works in January and February 2016 at the quietest time of year for traffic, but was informed that the road closures cannot start until February 2016.
For more on this story, see Thursday’s Courier.