Transport Scotland has now commenced the prequalification process for the contract to upgrade Junction 1a on the M9 – a key part of the Forth Replacement Crossing (FRC) project.

The works, which are scheduled to start in July 2011 and be completed in December 2013 at an expected cost of between £46 and £65 million, will improve connectivity and functionality by widening the M9 at key locations, improving existing slip roads and providing new west facing connections between the M9 and M9 Spur.

The contract also includes provision of an Intelligent Transport System (ITS) that will help regulate the flow of traffic approaching the FRC and Newbridge Junction, forming part of a 22 km ITS corridor that extends from M9 Junction 1a to the M90 Halbeath Junction. Overhead signal gantries along this corridor will provide lane control, variable mandatory speed control and traffic information to drivers via variable message signs (VMS).

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Steven Brown, Transport Scotland’s roads team manager for the FRC, said: “This contract represents a major part of the infrastructure needed to make the Forth Replacement Crossing work.

“The existing connections between M9 Junction 1a and the M9 Spur will be enhanced to provide two lanes and a hard shoulder to assist traffic flow through the junction area. The enhanced junction will also improve connectivity with West Lothian by incorporating new west facing slip roads between the M9 and M9 Spur, which will require a new bridge across the M9 and extension of the bridge over Overton Road.

“To complement these improvements, the section of the M9 north of Newbridge Roundabout will be improved with an additional lane being added in both directions from the River Almond bridge to M9 Junction 1a.”

The competition for the design and build contract was formally launched on 8 June 2010 with the publication of a Contract Notice in the Official Journal of the European Union and the Public Contracts Scotland web portal.

The Contract Notice invites expressions of interest from contractors, who will be required to complete a prequalification questionnaire, which Transport Scotland will then evaluate and score using objective criteria. It is intended to invite four contractors towards the end of 2010 to tender via a competitive dialogue process.

(GK)