Arran's String Road will close on Tuesday for two months to allow £1.3 million worth of much-needed improvement works to take place.

Major work will be carried out to widen and resurface the road, replace culverts and upgrade drainage and verges, improving road conditions for residents, local businesses and tourists.

Temporary traffic signals were put in place on April 21 to allow clearance of verges and the road will be closed from 10am on May 4 until Wednesday June 30 2010 to allow the bulk of the work to be carried out.

Traffic will be directed round the south of the island through Brodick, Lamlash, Whiting Bay, Lagg, Sliddery and Shiskine while the work is underway.

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Local access will be maintained for residents living in the affected area, as well as for the emergency services and Royal Mail.

North Ayrshire Council Network Manager, Joe Smith said: "While we do appreciate that the road closure will cause some disruption, we're sure that when people see the repaired sections of the road between Glenloig and Dereneneach, and the associated works, they will agree that it has been worthwhile.

"The timing of the works – outwith the main tourist season on Arran - should help ensure minimum impact on local businesses."

The String Road improvements were first announced last July when the Council and Ayrshire Timber Transport Group secured Scottish Government match-funding.

The Council's Network Manager, Joe Smith, added: "While these works are designed to ensure the road infrastructure is sufficient to allow current and future timber extraction, the investment will improve the road condition for all road users – residents, visitors and timber haulage operators alike.

"We considered a number of alternatives to the road closure but, given the scale of the works involved, we believe that this is by far the safest option."

(GK)