A90 to reopen northbound to Forfar and southbound to Brechin on Monday 23rd October
Amey engineers have been working hard to complete structural inspections across the A90
A90 TO REOPEN NORTHBOUND TO FORFAR AND SOUTHBOUND TO BRECHIN ON MONDAY 23RD OCTOBER
The A90 is scheduled to reopen to traffic in both directions northbound as far as Forfar and southbound as far as Brechin by morning peak on Monday 23rd October.
Work continues to allow the A90 to fully reopen to traffic between Dundee and Stonehaven following the severe impact of Storm Babet across the trunk road over a number of days.
The A90 was faced with a series of severe weather warnings and exceptional rainfall due to Storm Babet – including two very rare red warnings for rain for Angus and Aberdeenshire, and three days of ‘Avoid Travel’ advice from Police Scotland.
Due to the extremely high rainfall totals and increasing river flows in Angus and Aberdeenshire, SEPA issued a flood warning for these areas and a decision was taken to close the route for the safety of the travelling public.
The majority of investigations on structures on the A90 have now been completed. Two high risk structures near Finavon are still outstanding as the water level and flow rate at this location are still too severe to allow any work to take place.
The current speed and water levels are too high to allow divers to safely undertake investigations to assess the integrity of the structure.
As a result the A90 will remain closed between Dundee and Stonehaven for the remainder of today, Sunday 22/10. Local access will be retained.
Amey is working to open the A90 travelling northbound as far as Forfar and southbound as far as Brechin for the early morning commute on Monday. With a Met Office Yellow Warning for ice in place overnight, these roads will be gritted in advance.
There will be no signed diversion route in place between Forfar and Brechin due to the ongoing pressures on the road network in the area caused by the impact of Storm Babet.
Amey’s teams will be on site at first light tomorrow morning (Monday 23rd October) to evaluate the water conditions where the A90 remains closed at Finavon and look to undertake the relevant investigations if it is safe to do so.
Amey appreciates that the closure of such an important trunk road can be frustrating and would like to reassure the local community and travelling public that they are doing everything possible to reopen several bridges as quickly and safely as possible.
Operating Company Representative for the North East NMC, Tom Wallace, said: “To ensure the safety of all road users, our engineers have been working hard to complete structural inspections across the A90 and fully reopen the route between Dundee and Stonehaven.
“Any inspections must be carried out in a safe environment that does not put our teams at risk. Seventeen structures have been assessed and two remain. At this moment the river levels are still too high and too fast for work to be undertaken at those last remaining locations but we are hopeful that we will be able to undertake investigations tomorrow morning.
"The extreme weather event means that local roads remain impacted. We will shortly be able to reopen the A90 northbound as far as Forfar and southbound as far as Brechin – but we are unable identify a suitable diversion between the closed areas due to the impacts of the floods on local roads.
“I would ask people to plan ahead when considering their journey. We would like to thank all road users and the local community for their patience in advance – and we will provide an update as soon as we can tomorrow.”
For media enquires please contact Amey’s press office on 01865 713240 or by email: press.office@amey.co.uk. Follow us on Twitter @NETrunkRoads.
