IHT President, David Tarrant and Chief Executive, Mary Lewis, attended the Central and Southern Scotland Annual Branch Dinner on 9 August in Glasgow.  As a precursor to the event, and to allow the branch committee members to meet David and Mary in a more informal session, the evening before was set aside for a ‘traditional’ Glaswegian outing: a curry house.  With stomachs full, the guests were treated to a minibus tour of Glasgow City Centre to view the many floodlit architectural splendours the city has to offer.

With a day to fill before the Dinner the committee had arranged a series of visits to transport related projects within Central Scotland for David and Mary.  Starting at Glasgow Airport they were shown the new forecourt arrangement which recently opened following over a year of temporary traffic management resulting from the terrorist attack in June 2007.  They were also treated to a sneak preview of the Skyhub which will revolutionise the passenger processing at the airport and which is due to open at the end of October.

Next stop was the newly named Clackmannanshire Bridge and associated roadworks.  The new structure is the 1.2km centrepiece of a new roads project to provide a further crossing of the upper Forth at Kincardine  With project construction nearing completion, the IHT group walked across the new structure and were afforded great views of the original 1936 swing bridge which is to be fully refurbished for modern loadings once the new road opens.  The banks of the Forth are internationally important areas for migrating birds and Jacobs Project Director, Helen Bradley, told the guests of the environmental considerations that greatly influenced the design.  Frank Platt, construction manager for contractor Morgan Vinci was on hand to explain the construction complexities.  These included the soft ground conditions and the measures taken to prevent differential settlement between the embankment and the bridge at the Bowtrees Roundabout which has been grade separated as part of the project. 

Local interest in the project remains both high and supportive due to the benefits the bypass will bring to Kincardine village with the huge reduction in traffic.  The team were told of the many information sessions, briefings and presentations given by the project team sustaining that interest.  The £120 million project will complete on time and budget and when open on 19 November, the new bridge together with the eastern bypass opened in 2004, will remove 80% of the vehicles from the village of Kincardine.

The next project under the spotlight was the Edinburgh Trams being delivered by tie (Transport Initiatives Edinburgh) a wholly owned subsidiary of the City of Edinburgh Council (CEC).  Duncan Fraser, former branch chairman for IHT and Tram Co-ordination Manager for CEC explained that the city’s bus network was a highly effective public transport system but was unable to cope with increasing traffic levels.  The trams project will deliver high capacity public transport linking the airport to the west of the city with the city centre and beyond to Newhaven.  This Phase 1a of the scheme received the support of the Scottish Government in June 2008 with the approval of a £500m funding package.  Construction works have started with the major works to divert the utilities ongoing at many city centre locations.  This has led to some negative coverage in the local press, particularly when a burst main brought the city centre to a standstill, but tie are actively involved in discussions with the many stakeholders to minimise the pain during construction. 

When Phase 1a completes, 14% of the city population will live within 600m of a tram stop.  The 18.5km for Phase 1a will open to the public in May 2011 and it is hoped that this will be closely followed by Phase 1b which will deliver a further 5.5km connecting to Granton in the north of the city with a spur from Haymarket.  The business case for Phase 1b is currently being prepared.

The transport modelling carried out suggests that 83% of the tram passengers will transfer from the bus network with 17% being attracted to public transport from other forms.  The link to the airport will provide the city’s many tourists with a fast and efficient route to the city centre.

Construction of the new trams by CAF of Spain commenced in July 2008 and delivery should commence to the new depot being constructed north of Gogar roundabout in April 2010. 

Edinburgh is a world heritage site and Alasdair Sim, Project Interface Director with tie, explained the many difficulties of introducing a new transport system to the city.  The planners, along with many other stakeholders are taking a keen interest to ensure the necessary infrastructure such as overhead line equipment (OLE) is in keeping with the surroundings.   

The visit to Central Scotland showed Mary and David just a few of the many transport initiatives currently being developed north of the border.

Thanks are due to all those who assisted in arranging the visits particularly Alison Irvine of Transport Scotland.