The Highland Council has awarded a £1.5m contract to provide new access to the Inverness Campus being developed by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) at Beechwood.

The contract has been awarded to Wills Bros Ltd., which will see work begin in the New Year to widen Culloden Road.

HIE is contributing £300,000 towards the cost of the 20-week contract, due to begin in January 2013 and be completed in May 2013.

The existing road will be widened from two to four lanes between Caulfield Road North and the southern approaches to the Inshes Overbridge.

Work will also provide new access into the Campus immediately opposite the existing A9 slip road.

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The project will develop the current infrastructure, adding new synchronised traffic lights to link the junctions and enhancing the capacity of the arterial route into Inverness from the south.

Councillor Graham Phillips, Chairman of TEC Services, said: "I am pleased that funding could be found to upgrade this part of Culloden Road and improve connectivity to Inverness Campus as well as deliver additional capacity on Culloden Road. Over the period of the works it is anticipated the public will experience a certain amount of disruption but this will be kept to a minimum and the Council apologises for any delays that may be experienced during the course of the works."

Ruaraidh MacNeil, HIE’s director for the project said: "Inverness Campus will open next year with fully-serviced development plots available for businesses and research organisations looking to benefit from co-location with academic institutions. Scottish Government designation of part of the Campus as an Enterprise Area for Life Sciences offers the opportunity for specific incentives, such as rates relief and a streamlined planning process, for those in this key sector. The largest occupier on the site, Inverness College UHI, is set to open for business in August 2015."

(IT/GK)