MOTORISTS face more misery this month as work continues to complete a multi-million road project in Galashiels which is designed to ease congestion in the town cente.

As part of works on the Galashiels Inner Relief Road project final alterations need to be made to the traffic signals and road surface at Island Street and High Street. This is to turn it into a junction that will accommodate two-way traffic from Bridge Place.

Following consultation with stakeholder groups, emergency services, Scottish Borders Council's (SBC) Network Manager and the Environmental Health department, it has been agreed that the best way forward to minimise disruption is for the works to take place between 6pm and 11pm on Monday, May 14, to Friday, May 18.

A spokesperson for the local authority said: "To carry out this work during the normal working day would have required traffic management that would significantly slow down progress of the works or force a full closure of Island Street and High Street. This would have required traffic flows to be diverted on to adjacent streets which may have caused significant disruption in the town."

As the works are being undertaken in the vicinity of residential properties the contractor will be working within the strict noise limits set by Environmental Health and all efforts will be made to undertake the noisier operations before 10pm.

SBC apologises in advance for any inconvenience or disruption this may cause. If you have any queries or concerns prior to the closures please contact Ewan Doyle on 01835 824000.

Diversions Westbound traffic accessing the A72 towards Peebles will be diverted at Abbotsford Road on to Church Street/Scott Street/Gala Park and will access the A72 again at Hall Street. During these periods, parking restrictions will be in place along these streets to provide less obstructions for larger vehicles. Eastbound traffic will utilise the same diversion route Northbound traffic accessing the A7 towards Edinburgh will be able to access Albert Place/Bank Street as normal, but will be diverted on to Sime Place/Bridge Street (which will have the traffic direction reversed) to access Bridge Place. Southbound traffic from the A7 will be unaffected.