Work to help ease traffic flows in Castlecary village gets underway on 16 March 2009 when Highway Management Scotland Ltd (HMS) begin constructing 'Bus Gates' at the A80 junctions with Castlecary Road.

Transport Scotland incorporated the principle of the Bus Gates in the development of the £320m scheme in consultation with interested parties as a response to local representations about traffic through the village.

Once the Bus Gates are complete, traffic movements to Castlecary from the A80, and those from Castlecary to the A80, will be restricted to buses only. All other A80/Castlecary traffic will use the junction at Old Inns.

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The existing southbound on-slip at Castlecary will close permanently.

Temporary Bus Gates will become operational on 16 March 2009, with the permanent Bus Gates installed later.

Carson McCartney, Transport Scotland's Project Manager said: "This is an important part of our programme to deliver the M80 project. We have worked with the local community, Falkirk Council and the police, to develop these Bus Gates that will help relieve congestion through Castlecary village."

A spokesperson for HMS said: "Closing the slip roads is an essential part of our project and the delivery of the Bus Gates. While we aim to keep disruption to a minimum, short delays are inevitable. Therefore we would ask drivers to plan their journeys carefully and allow extra time to get to their destination."

The A80 forms part of the trunk road network between Glasgow, Stirling and the North East, and is one of the most heavily used roads in Scotland carrying both business and commuter traffic.

The project, which is expected to support over 500 jobs during the construction period, will see the construction of a new 11 mile (18 km) stretch the A80 between Stepps and Haggs.

(GK/JM)