West Lothian Council has approved an agreement with Network Rail and Winchburgh Developments Ltd. for the provision of an overbridge on the new core road through Winchburgh.

This is part of the arrangements required for the town centre, and providing a main route to access new schools, community facilities and retail facilities there.

The road would be an important part of the continued development of the Winchburgh area and facilitate connections onto newly developed areas. It will also allow the new core road and bridge to be opened to the public.

As a result of major new development within Winchburgh, works to upgrade and improve areas of existing infrastructure were required to facilitate connections onto newly developed areas. The proposals for construction of the new core road required significant road infrastructure improvements in Winchburgh. The new core road design required a new bridge structure to be constructed over the existing Edinburgh to Glasgow railway line to provide the required new Winchburgh through route, access to the M9 motorway and other areas of the new development. The new structure crosses the live electrified railway line underneath.

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As a result of the new improvements to the road network, a tripartite agreement is required between West Lothian Council, Network Rail and Winchburgh Developments. The new road and bridge structure has been funded and completed by Winchburgh Developments Ltd. and is scheduled to be opened to traffic, subject to agreement of the tripartite agreement amongst the parties.

Once the new road and bridges are open to the public, the road will be in a pre-adoption period of 12 months where it will be operated and maintained by Winchburgh Developments Ltd. After this pre-adoption period has been concluded to the satisfaction of the council, the road and bridges will then be formally adopted for maintenance by the council.

John Hamilton, CEO of Winchburgh Developments Ltd, said: "We are delighted that we are now in a position to proceed with formalising all necessary arrangements for the opening of the railway bridge and the new core road from the Town Centre to Beatlie Road and the M9. We are working closely with West Lothian Council and Network Rail to confirm an official opening date and will share this as soon as possible."

Leader of West Lothian Council, Lawrence Fitzpatrick said: "Winchburgh is a core development area in West Lothian and he transformation in the village is incredible. This road is an important part of the new infrastructure and this is an important step forward."