WORK is underway on a £4 million road improvement project on the A78 at Inverkip to pave the way for 650 homes and over 500 jobs.
Balfour Beatty is leading the works, with the upgrade of the trunk road scheduled to last until November 2025.
The project is aimed at paving the way for the redevelopment of the former Inverkip Power Station site, which would potentially deliver 650 residential properties, 400 construction jobs and 120 jobs in follow-on development, £28 million construction GVA impact, and £4 million annual ongoing operation GVA impact for Inverclyde and £6 million for the Glasgow City Region.
Work will see signalised junctions installed at Main Street and Kip Marina to address long-running road safety issues on the A78 and a T-junction created at Brueacre to open up access to the former Inverkip Power Station site.
The project was first proposed in 2014, with plans since evolving – with the main change being the Brueacre Junction becoming a T-junction rather than a roundabout as originally planned. This follows further design development and transport modelling around future capacities for the village which concluded that greater space would be required for a roundabout. The new proposals are also more cost-effective, Inverclyde Council added.
Stephen Hardie, portfolio director at Balfour Beatty, said, “We are pleased to start work on this important infrastructure project, which will enhance road safety and unlock long-term growth in Inverkip. We are committed to working closely with the local community to ensure that disruption is kept to a minimum whilst these essential improvement works are ongoing.”
Councillor Michael McCormick, Inverclyde Council’s convener of environment and regeneration, added, “This project has been a long time in the making and a huge amount of work and effort has gone on in the background with a variety of partner organisations to get to this stage so it’s pleasing that work is now underway. The A78 is a busy trunk road so there will be disruption and challenges over the coming months but council officers have worked closely with our main contractor and other partners to try and keep disruption to a minimum.”
