Residents and businesses that may be affected by a four-month closure of St Leonard’s Bridge in Craigie, Perth, had the opportunity to speak to the various agencies involved.
Following Perth and Kinross Council announcing their programme of works for the bridge last week, they agreed to hold a public exhibition in an empty shop in Craigie, at which council officers, representatives from project contractors Diack and MacAuley and staff from Stagecoach attended.
In addition, the community police officer was also there to answer any questions that people may have in advance of the works starting on Monday.
St Leonard’s Bridge will be closed for four months to both vehicles and pedestrians, with the latter being given a diverted route through the South Inch. As a result, police will increase patrols in the Craigie area.
Consultation has been carried out by letter with the community to gauge feedback on a proposal to temporarily alter parking restrictions in Craigie Cross. The council will also put additional signs in a range of locations advising that shops and businesses in Craigie Cross and St Leonard’s Bank will be open as usual during the works.
Perth and Kinross Council intend to free up parking spaces for people using local businesses, while trying to minimise disruption to residential parking. A further letter drop is scheduled to be carried out prior to the works to confirm what these temporary arrangements are.
Additional information about the proposal was on display at the public exhibition.
Last week, Derek Davidson, Perth and Kinross Council’s senior engineer in the structures and flooding team and project manager for the St Leonard’s Bridge works, said the local authority had “taken on board” the views of some businesses and residents following a previous public exhibition in October.
Mr Davidson said one of the main queries from the public was why will it take four months for the work to be completed.
“The reason for that is we can’t replace one length of the footway at a time,” he had said.
“The bridge is owned by Network Rail and the footways were built around the turn of the century and there was a small piece of concrete fell in 2011, so we’ve been planning to replace the footways since then.”