BEAR Scotland has announced the second phase of refurbishment works on the bridge carrying the M8 motorway over the railway at Junction 3A will get underway on 03 October, after being postponed following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.

Chris Tracey, BEAR Scotland's South East Unit Bridges Manager, said: "This project to refurbish and re-waterproof the bridge deck is essential to ensuring that this motorway structure will continue to provide safe and reliable service for years to come.

"The works have been scheduled over the weekend to minimise travel disruption as much as possible, however motorists should expect delays if they do need to travel on the M8 that weekend.

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"We thank road users for their patience and understanding and recommend that they check the latest travel updates and allow extra travel time for their journeys.

"Whilst every effort will be made to ensure that the M8 is fully open to traffic on the Monday morning, the extent of concrete repairs required will not be known until the existing surfacing is removed. These works are also highly weather dependent and so could be postponed and rearranged at short notice depending on the weather."

Consultation has taken place with all relevant stakeholders including local authorities and Police Scotland in advance of these works to make them aware of the traffic management arrangements.

A contraflow system will be in place on the M8 between Junction 3 Livingston and Junction 4 Whitburn, from 20:30 on the night of Friday 30 September until 06:00 on Monday 3 October.

The westbound off-slip at M8 Junction 3A will also be closed during these times, with traffic that would otherwise wish to leave the M8 at Junction 3A directed to exit at Junction 3 and follow the A899, A705 and A779 towards their destination. This diversion will add an estimated 2 miles and 5 minutes to affected journeys.

The westbound on-slip at M8 Junction 3A will remain open.