Following concerns expressed by constituents that a coned-off lane restriction on the busy Riverside Drive at the site of the Tay Rail Bridge has been in place since late last year, I raised the matter with Dundee City Council to find out when the coned off area will be back to normal traffic. The cones were put in place during November 2011 following a vehicle hitting the bridge.The City Council’s Head of Transportation advised me :
“This is a deliberate section of temporary traffic management to ensure that no further vehicle strikes occur. The City Engineer's Structural engineers have undertaken a survey and we (City Engineer / Transportation and Planning) are considering a permanent layout that will prevent any further bridge strikes in the future.”
I have now been advised by the City Engineer :
“The works have now been designed which involves some kerb realignment in the central reserve to ensure that minimum headroom to the bridge is achieved above the carriageway.
Network Rail have just recently completed repairs to the damaged plate girder utilising the traffic management measures in place.
The kerb realignment works have still to be fully programmed but will start sometime in April for a period of approximately 2 weeks.”
I am pleased that there is an end in sight to the coned-off traffic management at the rail bridge on Riverside Drive. Its an extremely busy section of road with a large traffic volume so the removal of the coned area and safety works will be welcomed.