Construction work is set to begin on a new station at Ladhope Vale as part of the Borders Railway initiative.

In order to allow the work to be carried out safely, a temporary one-way system is to be implemented in Galashiels town centre. The system will come into effect from 27 July and will be in place until 5 December 2014.

Ladhope Vale and Bridge Place, as well as the junction of Stirling Street, will be added to the current one-way system in order to maintain the flow of traffic. It will also allow the station and associated works to be undertaken safely.

Hugh Wark, Project Director, Network Rail, explained: "Network Rail and its main contractor, BAM, are making excellent progress on the construction of the railway through Gala. We've installed new bridges and prepared the railway formation in several locations already and we're now shifting our focus to the station works.


"To allow us to carry out these works safely, we need to put in place an adequate exclusion zone and that requires implementing restrictions on traffic and pedestrians using the north side of Ladhope Vale.

"The temporary one-way system we are putting in place has been agreed with SBC and will be familiar to road users in Gala. We apologise in advance for any inconvenience that these changes will cause and thank road users for their continued patience while we look to complete the construction of the railway by next summer."

Councillor David Parker, Leader of Scottish Borders Council, added: "The Borders Railway will be an exciting development for Galashiels for decades to come but as with any major infrastructure project there is also short-term disruption.

"A number of options were looked at and the one chosen by Network Rail and SBC means the Ladhope Vale works can be carried out safely and as quickly as possible."

(JP/IT)