Lane closure as £1m refurbishment starts on Edinburgh railway bridge

Work began on January 5 and is estimated to last until April 2.

A partial lane closure is in place between Robertson Avenue and Wheatfield Road and temporary traffic lights are operating under the bridge on Gorgie Road throughout this period.

The work at the railway bridge in the west of Edinburgh is part of Network Rail’s wider £4 billion investment in Scotland's railways, which the operator hopes will increase reliability and improve performance.

The Gorgie Road railway bridge project will include removing old paint and rust, priming and then repainting while carrying out a programme of minor devegetation works.

Workers will be on site for day shifts from 7:30am to 5:30pm and night shifts from midnight to 8am throughout the project’s timeline.

Residents and businesses in the area have been advised of the programme, which will involve noisy ‘rivet-busting’ and ‘grit-blasting’ activities.

Network Rail has noted the project cannot happen without a partial lane closure.

Apologising for any traffic issues, Gerald Brown, scheme project manager at Network Rail, said: “We understand that a partial lane closure isn’t ideal on what is an important through route for local traffic.

"However, the diversion route will ensure we can complete these works with a minimum of disruption and inconvenience to the community.

“We apologise to anyone affected by this work and we thank you for your patience while we carry out these vital improvement works."

The project will be completed over two phases – from January 5 to February 15 and then February 16 to April 2.

Network Rail said the measures they had taken would mean the bridge would not require repainting for up to two decades.

They have also created an online page on their Scotland’s Railway sub branch page for local residents to see a timeline of ‘Possible Disruptions’, which may affect them as work on the bridge is underway.

People can access this via: scotlandsrailway.com/projects/gorgie-road/.

A message from the Editor:Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.