Transport Scotland is encouraging local communities to have their say on proposed designs for the A96 Inveramsay Bridge improvements.

The invite comes after the government agency published the draft Road Orders and Environmental Statement for the scheme to help remove one of the north-east's most congested roads.

Drivers on the A96 Aberdeen to Elgin Road have been subject to delays for decades at the Inveramsay Bridge. Due to the busy road near Inverurie narrowing down to a single lane that is controlled by traffic lights, when it passed under a rail bridge carrying the main Aberdeen to Inverness line.

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In order to improve the bottleneck, Transport Scotland has planned to spend £11m on the construction of a new bridge structure to take the road over the railway and realign the A96 over a length of almost a mile. The move would allow the free flow of traffic on the trunk road.

Designs for the proposed scheme are to go on display at public exhibitions in Huntly and Inverurie later this month, allowing the public to comment on the plans.

Transport Minister Keith Brown said: "The Scottish Government has made clear our commitment to improve journey time reliability and remove the traffic lights which have affected road users travelling along this stretch of the A96 for many years.

"On completion, locals and visitors can expect real benefits through reduced congestion and improved journey reliability.

"I would encourage anyone with an interest to come along to one of the public exhibitions next week to see our plans and take the opportunity to comment on them."

(JP/CD)