Transport / Roadworks nearly done at Black Gaet junction
ROADWORKS at the Black Gaet junction are expected to conclude prior to the weekend.
Weather permitting, the last day of work should be tomorrow (Friday).
The key focus of the work was to remove the slip road for traffic coming from the south.
The action had been taken due to concerns over the slip road’s length which came to light during analysis into the junction, which has been described by some as an accident “blackspot”.
A spokesperson for Shetland Islands Council said there have been no complications in the roadworks, which saw three sets of traffic lights put up.
“The only slight issue was that the cracking and rutting of the carriageway was worse than originally thought, which was only evident when the traffic lights were in place and it was safer to get a closer look,” they said.
“This may have added a day or two to the overall duration.”
The spokesperson added that the work has been done in two phases.
The first was the removal of the traffic island that formed the slip road and the kerbing of the reduced radius on the entry to the Black Gaet from the south.
The second phase was the inlay resurfacing of the mouth of the junction and of the three lane section of the A970 which was worn, fretting, rutted, cracked with a wearing course that had lost its shape.
“There was a delay of a couple of days between the two phases while the surfacing squad was completing another piece of work,” the spokesperson added. “That delay was weather-related.”
The removal of the slip road means entry into the Black Gaet will take the form of a normal T-junction.
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