OIC reminds public of St Mary’s road works and bus service changes

Orkney Islands Council (OIC) has issued a reminder to motorists and bus users that road works and road closures will be  in place on the main A961 (Kirkwall to St Margarets Hope road) for five days from Monday, December 13.

Works will take place at the corner between the Loch and The Inn, St Mary’s, Holm, and will be carried out under road closure conditions to ensure works can be carried out safely. Closures will be restricted to 9am to 3.30pm which should enable school transport to operate with a minimum of disturbance.

Outwith the road closure times traffic will be restricted to using one side of the road and will be controlled by temporary traffic lights which will result in delays during busier periods.

A diversion route will be in place via the A960 (Kirkwall to Deerness road) and the B9052 from St Andrews Primary School to the First Churchill Barrier (via the Holm war memorial).

Stagecoach has advised that during the hours of 9am – 3:30pm, the X1 commercial service from St Margarets Hope to Kirkwall will divert via the Kirkwall to Deerness road past St Andrews Primary School to the First Barrier and on to St Margaret’s Hope as per the existing timetable. Due to the change of route and possible disruptions, we would ask passengers to allow 10/15 minutes on current scheduled times as there are likely to be delays.

During the period of closure, there will be an additional X1 service in operation from Kirkwall (A961) as per the current timetable which will serve as far as St Mary’s and back for passengers residing in the Holm area. Therefore, the pick up/ drop off point for passengers will be from Park of Ayre and there will be no service between the First Barrier and Park of Ayre during the period of closure.

Posters notifying passengers of the diversions are in place at the Kirkwall Travel Centre and affected bus shelters. It should be noted that passengers can track buses across Orkney on the Stagecoach App which would provide accurate timings.

OIC has apologised for the inconvenience this will cause during the period of road closure and thanks the public for their patience For further information on the X1 timetable during this time please contact Stagecoach on 87 0555 or visit www.orkney.gov.uk/transport for timetable information.