In the first quarter of 2025, BEAR Scotland delivered over £24 million in improvements and maintenance across the South East trunk road network on behalf of our client Transport Scotland.

This included resurfacing projects of over £5 million, improving surface quality and overall safety for motorists on various routes:

• January saw work on the A7 north of Langholm, the A1 east of Haddington, the A702 south of Penicuik and the A720 at Baberton.
• Schemes delivered in February included A7 Commercial Road in Hawick, the A702 Junction with the A766 and Abington South Roundabout, as well as two projects on the A68 between Lauder and Earlston.
• In March, schemes were completed on the A702 between Dolphinton and West Linton, and the A720 Dreghorn eastbound off-slip.

Our teams completed the landscaping and grass cutting programme for 2024-25, also sprucing up signage and cleaning out gullies. Following Storm Éowyn in January, road sweeping was targeted to hotspots with significant debris accumulation and litter picking was focused on known problem areas on the routes where this is our responsibility.

We upgraded laybys at various locations on the A7 and A68 from Dalkeith to Canonbie to ensure they can be used by everyone regardless of age or disability.

Significant drainage improvements included the A7 south of Hawick and the M8 at Polkemmet, gully replacement south of Selkirk, and investigation work on the A1 at Wallyford, A68 Dalkeith bypass and M9 Linlithgow Loch. Following discussions with Edinburgh Airport, who had noted an increase in bird activity around their runways, we also replaced bird deterrent measures at the M9 Newbridge SUDS pond.

Landscaping improvements included significant schemes on the M8 between Hermiston Gait and Junction 3, the M9 between Junctions 4 and 7, the A7 between Teviothead and Hawick and the A68 at Soutra.

Bridges projects worth almost £9.5 million were delivered in the quarter.

At the Kincardine Bridge, with the new viaduct now open to traffic, works on site to remove the temporary bridge and reinstate the site were completed. This project was carried out by Balfour Beatty, with BEAR Scotland supervising on behalf of Transport Scotland.

On the Forth Road Bridge, work continued on projects to refurbish the main cable dehumidification system and the suspended span under-deck access walkways. A principal inspection of the side towers and approach viaduct towers was completed, and work has begun on replacement of the lateral thrust bearings and an internal inspection of the main cables.

Our electrical team have now replaced all of the architectural lighting on the Queensferry Crossing’s towers, with new energy efficient LEDs that have the potential to be over 80% more efficient than the original system.

On the South East network’s other bridges, improvements were completed on the A702 north of Candy Mill and south of West Linton, on the A68 at Earlston and on the M9 near Stirling. Major refurbishment works continued on the bridge carrying the M8 Junction 3 eastbound off-slip over the A899.

Andy Thompson, BEAR Scotland Operating Company Representative for the South East said: “In the first quarter of 2025, despite some disruption from Storm Éowyn during January, we completed delivery of an ambitious programme of maintenance and improvement projects on behalf of our client Transport Scotland, improving safety and reliability for road users in South East Scotland.”

ENDS