Falkirk town centre gridlock as roadworks underway

Part of Arnot Street is currently closed and will remain so until Friday, May 2, as Scottish Water deal with a leak from an 18-inch main under the road.

It is closed from Cochrane Avenue to Bellevue Street.

There is still access to the Lidl supermarket but it is closed from there to Eastburn Drive.

Diversions are in place but it means anyone coming from the west and wanting to go along Callendar Road needs to come up West Bridge Street, go down Hope Street, Garrison Place, Park Street, Kerse Lane and Bellevue Street.

To go from east to west it is a case of going down Bellevue, Street, Kerse Lane, Princes Street, Vicar Street, Garrison Place and Hope Street.

This has already led to delays since the work began earlier today.

Drivers are also facing eight weeks of diversions with the bridge at Lock 16 in Camelon closed to allow upgrading work on the Forth & Clyde Canal.

There is also ongoing work at Westfield with the £54 million project to upgrade the A9/A904 road infrastructure.

A Falkirk Council spokesperson said: “While essential repairs and infrastructure works are necessary to maintain and improve the network, we understand the impact this can have on daily journeys.

“We always aim to co-ordinate works to minimise disruption as far as reasonably possible. However, some situations, such as the unforeseen closure at Arnot Street to carry out an emergency repair on a water pipe arise at short notice and cannot be planned in advance.

“We are in continuous contact with utility companies and contractors involved in works to ensure traffic management is in place and that works are completed as efficiently as possible, with efforts to accelerate timelines where we can.”