Scottish Borders Council have announced that essential works by three public utility firms are due to get underway on Monday 2 December.

The works begin at 9am on 2 December until Thursday 12 December and will take place on Island Street at its junction with Hall Street, to allow a power connection, telecoms network upgrade and manhole repairs to take place.

Temporary traffic lights at Island Street/Hall Street junction

The co-ordinated works – which need to be completed before Christmas – will see temporary three-way traffic lights installed at the Island Street/Hall Street junction. The temporary lights will operate 24/7 throughout the roadworks and will be manned from 7am to 7pm each day.

Permanent lights at Bridge Place/High Street/Island Street junction switched off:

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• The use of temporary traffic lights will require the permanent traffic lights at the Bridge Place/High Street/Island Street junction to be switched off during the works.

• In its place will be a give-way system, with traffic from Bridge Place and Island Street having priority over High Street road users. Signage will be in place to advise road users of the temporary arrangements.

• In addition, the pedestrian crossing will not be available at the Bridge Place/High Street/Island Street junction during the works, with the nearest alternative crossing on the High Street opposite Trinity Church. Traffic islands are also available on Bridge Place and Island Street.

• Buses will continue to operate as normal, but the Peebles-bound bus stop on Island Street will be moved to the other side of the Hall Street junction.

Councillor Gordon Edgar, Executive Member for Roads and Infrastructure, said: "If carried out as three separate projects, these works would have taken a month in total but have been co-ordinated by the Council and the utility firms to ensure the disruption is minimised.

"We have made the decision to switch off the permanent lights at the Bridge Place/High Street/Island Street junction as leaving them on would have created significantly longer delays for road users.

"We would advise motorists to give themselves plenty of time during the works and we thank them in advance for their cooperation."

(MH/JG)