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Thursday 4 May 2017

A71 West Calder to close for completion works

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

The A71 will close for a period of four days next weekend to enable work to resurface the carriageway of the road bridge next to the station in West Calder.

Network Rail has worked with West Lothian Council to put in place an appropriate ‘all vehicles’ diversion during the closure which will be in place from 23.59 on Thursday, May 11, until 23.59 on Monday, May 15.  The A71will re-open fully to two-way traffic overnight Monday into Tuesday.

The resurfacing work will mark the completion of the 16 week programme to demolish and reconstruct the bridge over the railway in preparation for the electrification of the line.

Iain McFarlane, Network Rail’s head of programme management for the Shotts line electrification, said: “We have been mindful of the impact that closing the A71 has for both road users and those communities adjacent to the proposed diversion route and will complete this work with minimal disruption.

“We are grateful for the patience shown by the community in West Calder, and those who would normally have used this route, while the road has been unavoidably closed to enable the bridge replacement work.”