Bridge traffic petition handed in

Drivers will start using the bridge on 19 November

A petition has been handed in to the Scottish Parliament by villagers worried about an increase in traffic from the new Clackmannanshire Bridge.

Almost 1,100 people have backed demands for money to be used to redesign the A977 in Kinross-shire to make it less attractive to lorry drivers.

The signatures have come in from villages such as Blairingone, Powmill, Crook of Devon, Drum and Balado.

It is estimated that traffic could rise by 25-44% once the bridge is opened.

Drivers will start using the £120m crossing on 19 November.

'Seven minutes'

Villagers want to see about £1.5m used to build three large roundabouts on the A977 as well as smaller community safety measures.

Kinross-shire councillor Michael Barnacle said: "The idea is to make the route less attractive to HGV's, which is the main problem, so they would use the route that Transport Scotland has identified as the appropriate routes between the Central Belt and the M90 - ie the A9 and the A985.

"Unfortunately the signage at Gartarry roundabout will direct traffic up the A977 for the M90 - we strongly disagree with that."

Cllr Barnacle is concerned that someone may be seriously hurt by the rise in traffic.

"We already have an increasing number of vehicles using the road - for example tankers from Grangemouth use the road as a feeder route," he said.

"We had a tanker incident on the road not too long ago and it was actually a major miracle there wasn't a loss of life. And we have houses right up against the road.

"We're not asking for a significant amount of money to deter HGVs who reckon they can save about seven minutes using that road."