The A96 project brings real benefit to local communities and businesses.
Teachers at two Fochabers schools have said that the bypass is a “dream come true” for the area.
Milne’s Primary School and Nursery, and the Magic Roundabout Childcare Centre, which are both located on the main High Street in Fochabers, have welcomed the safer environment, the lower traffic levels and reduced journey times for children, parents and teachers, which the bypass will create.
Juli Harris, Milne’s Primary School and Nursery head teacher said: “The heavy flow of traffic outside the school has been an area of concern for years, particularly as the number of vehicles passing through Fochabers has steadily increased.
“The bypass will help to significantly reduce the volume of traffic we usually have on our doorstep and will mean that outside playtimes are less of a worry. Although the play areas are located at the back of the building and strict supervision is in place, the traffic has been a huge cause for concern.
“Not only will the reduction in traffic improve the safety for our pupils, it will also make it easier for parents and bus drivers to drop off and pick up the children as they won’t have to navigate their way through the gridlock which often builds up on the High Street at peak times. A third of our pupils live outwith Fochabers so require some sort of transportation.”
Mrs Harris also praised the contractor, Morrison Construction, for their efforts to communicate with the school. “They kept us and parents fully informed of any road diversions, which helped us to plan in advance for children getting to and from school, limiting the disruption to the day to day running.
“They also involved the pupils in the design stages of the cycle route and made a donation for the children’s Christmas activities.”
June Franklin, owner of the Magic Roundabout Childcare, which provides private pre and after school services, said the bypass will also help to cut journey times for teachers and parents travelling to and from the nursery and will create a more user-friendly road.
She said “The route has been well designed and a bulk of the traffic will no longer have to pass through the town centre. It will significantly reduce travel times, for example the bypass will cut the journey time from Forres to Fochabers – a route I regularly use – by approximately 15 minutes.”Major national haulier ARR Craib has up to 40 articulated vehicles passing through the A96 corridor daily – and its biggest challenge on that route has been the bottleneck presented by the road's passage through Fochabers and Mosstodloch.
Serving clients including Baxters and Walkers Shortbread in the food industry, as well as oil and gas service firms operating out of both Aberdeen and Invergordon, the firm is one of the busiest carriers in Scotland.
One of the largest privately-owned road transport companies in the UK, ARR Craib operates more than 200 vehicles and 500 trailers, controlled from its bases and distribution hubs at Aberdeen, Cumbernauld and Eaglescliffe. It is a member of the Road Haulage Association, Freight Transport Association, and the Palletline network.
Managing director, Eddie Anderson, says the delivery of the A96 Fochabers bypass will have a substantial positive impact on his firm's routes and the local communities through which their vehicles have, until now, had to pass through.
He said: "The Fochabers Bypass is a vital development for businesses around Moray and beyond – it removes a major bottleneck, greatly improving safety, reducing journey times and improving efficiency.
"I've been to the town on a number of occasions during construction, mainly through our work as the main haulage contractor for Baxters of Speyside, and it's clear that this new bypass will be of a huge benefit not just for us, but for the entire region.
"The problem has, for many years, been that the A96 is hugely unpredictable – some days it's a clear run, others it's a terribly slow road, either as a result of prevailing weather conditions or a surge in tourism-related traffic.
"Fochabers in particular has a narrow high street and at certain times you can be looking at 10 to 15 minutes alone just to get through the High Street to continue your journey – with the west to east route toward Aberdeen worst affected.
"At this time of year we have a greater volume of our 44-tonne articulated lorries moving to and from the area, mainly because of the huge popularity of soup from Baxters which we haul nationwide.
"If you look at around 40 vehicles saving 15 mins per day, you're talking about more than 3,600 man-hours saved on average every year, which is a very significant improvement.
"With changeable conditions and fewer daylight hours, having this bypass in place as we go forward into 2012 is a huge bonus for our drivers and for our clients as it will help to make our journeys more efficient.
"Removing a high volume of through traffic from Fochabers and Mosstodloch will make the communities far safer – the legacy of high volumes of commercial as well as commuter and domestic traffic will be a thing of the past.
"That will make them more attractive to visitors, so we would hope that economically the bypass is as beneficial for local businesses and residents as it is for us and our clients."
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