Infrastructure investment plan 2015: 2016 progress report

Transport

M8, M73 M74 Motorway Improvements: The NPD contract was awarded to Scottish Roads Partnership in February 2014. The project will upgrade the A8 Baillieston to Newhouse, completing the M8 motorway between Glasgow and Edinburgh, including improvements to the M74 Raith Interchange and widening of key sections of the M8, M73 and M74,

The project is progressing well, and as it moves into its final stages the focus of construction has shifted to completing the various structures across the project. A significant milestone was achieved on 16 February 2017 when the Raith Underpass was opened to traffic, with significant reductions in journey times reported.

The project has also reached the stage of construction where it is necessary to connect the newly constructed 'off-line' infrastructure with the existing ('on-line') road network. Traffic management measures are extensive across the project, and will remain in place at a number of locations as the scheme moves towards opening to traffic in Spring 2017.

Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (including Balmedie to Tipperty): This NPD contract was awarded in December 2014 to Aberdeen Roads Limited. Works continue to progress across the project site. Phase 1 comprising the Craibstone and Dyce Drive junctions on the A96 became operational in August 2016.

The Stonehaven southbound slip roads are expected to open in spring 2017, bringing early benefits to the people of Stonehaven by taking long-distance traffic away from the town. At the major bridge over the River Dee, the south pier is now complete and the north pier is in progress. Once completed, the works to install the bridge deck will commence.

The project, including the Balmedie to Tipperty section, will open to traffic in winter 2017-18. The project will provide substantial benefits across the whole of the north east and will provide a boost to the economy; increase business and tourism opportunities; improve safety; cut congestion as well as increasing opportunities for improvements in public transport facilities.

A9 Dualling Perth to Inverness: Design work is well underway on the 11 road schemes that make up the 80 miles of A9 Dualling.

The road orders for the Luncarty to Pass of Birnam section were made on the 13 December 2016 completing the statutory process and allowing the procurement process to begin. The procurement process for the main construction contract for this project is expected to start this year with work starting on the ground towards the end of 2017.

The £35 million contract for the first section of the A9 Dualling to be constructed between Kincraig and Dalraddy was awarded to a joint venture of Wills Bros Civil Engineering and John Paul Construction. Work is now well underway and is expected to be completed in summer 2017; with traffic already using the southbound carriageway and work underway to upgrade the existing road.

A737 Dalry Bypass: Following completion of the statutory process for the A737 Dalry Bypass, four bidders were invited to participate in the competition for the main works, in July 2016. Work is now underway across the site in advance of the award of contract for the main works, due in spring 2017.

Forth Replacement Crossing: The Forth Replacement Crossing ( FRC) project is now targeting opening to traffic between mid-July and the end of August 2017, approximately 4 to 10 weeks later than anticipated as the contractor has stated there have been fewer clear weather windows than expected, particularly in relation to wind. This has delayed weather dependant activities causing them to bunch together at the end of the programme to a much greater degree than was anticipated

The project is still targeting the revised budget range of £1.325 billion - £1.35 billion and has realised cumulative savings of £245 million since construction began in June 2011.

The final deck lifting operation took place to complete the Queensferry Crossing's deck on 3 February. This marked the completion of a spectacular 17 months on the project which has seen 122 deck sections lifted into place in total. The first 12 were lifted into place by floating crane in October 2014 with the remaining 110 lifted into place since September 2015.

In total 77,200 tonnes of steel and concrete has been added to complete the deck of the new bridge. Overall, 1,868 metres have been lifted across this part of the bridge which is 2,633 metres in length in total when the approach viaducts on the north and south are included.

The final 400 mm gap between the south approach viaducts and the cable stayed bridge was jacked closed on 27 February on the southbound side and on 1 March on the northbound side. Final welding of these joints is currently in progress and then the final four deck concrete pours will be carried out to complete the main bridge deck.

The remaining work continues to be weather sensitive, particularly the on-going waterproofing and surfacing of the bridge deck. The network connections on the South side are complete but for some minor finishing works and on the North side they are nearing completion.

This project has continued to directly support an average of 1,300 jobs, recently reaching a new peak of over 1500. Since 2011, over 10,000 people have worked directly on the project with many more employed in the supply chain via sub-contract and supply order opportunities. Up to December 2016, 308 out of 561 sub-contracts (55%) have been awarded to Scottish firms with a value of about £183 million out of a total of about £486 million (37.6%). In addition, 51,638 out of a total of 55,908 supply orders (92%) have been awarded to Scottish companies with a value of about £152 million out of a total of about £202 million (75%). Up to 31 December 2016, Scottish firms have been awarded sub-contracts or supply orders on the FRC project with a total value of about £335 million out of a total of about £688 million (48.7%).

A96 Dualling Inverness to Aberdeen (Design): Draft Orders for the 31km A96 Inverness to Nairn (including Nairn Bypass) section were published on 29 November 2016 for formal comment. In addition route option assessment work is underway on the 46km section between Hardmuir and east of Fochabers following the award of a design contract, worth up to £50 million, in June 2016. It is expected that the route option assessment process for this section will take approximately 2 years to complete. A contract notice for design work on the 42km section from east of Huntly to Aberdeen, also worth up to £50 million, was published in January 2017. Route option assessment work on this section will get underway once the contract is awarded later this year and take approximately 2 years to complete.

A82 Improvements (Design): The development and assessment of the preferred option to upgrade the 16km stretch of the A82 between Tarbet and Inverarnan is underway with a view to preparing draft Orders for the scheme in 2018.

A77 Maybole Bypass (Design): Orders for the Maybole Bypass were made in March 2016 which completed the statutory process for the scheme. Procurement of the main works contract is due to commence in 2017-18, with construction expected to begin in 2018-19.

A90/A96 Haudagain Junction Improvement (Design): Orders for improvements at Haudagain were made in February 2017 which, subject to no legal challenge, will complete the statutory process for the scheme. Procurement of the scheme is due to commence in 2017-18, with construction to begin following completion of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route.

Trunk Roads Progress Update Report

Maintaining and safely operating our trunk road and rail networks, as well as implementing our strategic road safety plans requires some £400 million every year. This provides for essential services including ensuring the networks are available throughout the winter, and addresses the most urgent maintenance of the trunk road. The trunk road network is 3,429 km long, and the rail network some 2,759 km, of which 24 per cent is electrified.

On the roads we will continue to seek to realise the benefits that can be gained by using Intelligent Transport Systems ( ITS) to make our trunk road network as safe and efficient as possible. ITS systems and the Traffic Scotland service are essential parts of our transport resilience responses. These allow us to utilise multiple technology platforms (mobile websites, apps, internet radio and social media) to target reduced journey times across the transport network, inform transport network users of issues, alternative routes and methods of travel to minimise transport disruption. There will be a new ITS 10 year strategy document which will map out future strategic directions for ITS and consider options such as further managed motorways like the current Fife ITS scheme.

Work will also continue towards achieving the casualty reduction targets set out in Scotland's Road Safety Framework to 2020. This will be supported by the refresh of the Strategic Road Safety Plan and continued effective deployment of safety cameras. A recent example is the £3 million plus spend on average speed cameras on the A9. This has achieved not only notable casualty reductions but also improved journey time reliability.

Investment and research will continue into making the trunk road network even more resilient to the effects of adverse weather. For example, for winter season 2016-17 152 state of the art gritters operating on the trunk roads are less than four years old. This represents 73% of the total winter fleet for trunk roads. We proactively invest and trial more technology to improve decision making and responses by those managing the winter treatments. This includes an asset management programme to maintain, replace or renew weather sensor stations annually. For the 2016-17 we also launched a new Gritter Live Tracking module on the Traffic Scotland website to allow people to see when gritters are in their areas.

We also plan to invest in technology to assist the optimisation of the trunk road network through providing clear and helpful information. The Traffic Scotland mobile website, accessible across a range of mobile platforms, including smartphones, allows users to access information from Traffic Scotland wherever they need it. This is in addition to a programme of managed motorways, including ramp metering, active signage and measures like the bus hard-shoulder running being implemented during construction of the Forth Replacement Crossing.

Ferries

Major redevelopment works at Brodick harbour started on 11 January 2016 and are due to be completed in mid-2017. This is a major investment of around £30 million to secure a safe, efficient and reliable ferry terminal to support the island's primary transport connection to the mainland. The Scottish Government is providing a £17.8 million grant towards the project.

The third hybrid ferry to be built at Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd Shipyard ( MV Catriona) was delivered July 2016. The contract value was £12.3 million. She entered service on CalMac's Claonaig - Lochranza route in September 2016.

On 16 October 2016, a contract for two 100m dual fuel vessels for CalMac was awarded to Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd. The contract value is £97 million. The first vessel is due to be delivered by the second half of 2018 with the second vessel being delivered a few months later. The vessels will be initially deployed on services to Arran and from Uig, Skye, to the Outer Hebrides.

Marine works at Kerrera involving 2 new slipway extensions plus the installation of a breakwater on the south side of the extended Kerrera slipway started on 4 January 2016 and were completed in August 2016. The contract value was £1.7 million.

Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd are currently considering tenders for replacing the slipways at both Colintraive and Rhubodach and the provision of a new marshalling area.

Electric Vehicles

Around £15 million has been invested to date in the ChargePlace Scotland network of electric vehicle charge points. This comprises over 1,200 bays (equating to over 600 charge points). This includes over 150 'rapid' charge points, one of the most comprehensive networks in Europe. We also provide funding for domestic and commercial charge points. Support has also been provided towards a hydrogen refuelling facility at Fife Council's Bankhead Depot, to augment the Levenmouth Community Energy Project.

Shotts Electrification: The project delivers the electrification of the 23 mile route between Holytown Junction and Midcalder Junction. The project will improve connectivity, increase capacity and efficiency, enhance the passenger experience by the introduction of new rolling stock, reduce journey times and improve freight reliability. The Anticipated Final Cost of the project is £160 million and is on target for completion by the end of Control Period 05 in March 2019.

Highland Mainline: The long term aim of the Highland Mainline project seeks to achieve a journey time of 2 hours 45 minutes between Inverness and the Central Belt, with an average journey time of 3 hours and an hourly service by 2025. The current phase, Phase Two, aims to achieve a further journey time reduction of approximately 10 minutes, an hourly service and more efficient freight operations that better respond to the needs of customers. The Anticipated Final Cost of the project has significantly reduced from £117 million to £65 million due to a whole industry approach to the project. The project remains on schedule for completion by March 2019.

Aberdeen - Inverness Rail Improvements: Phased programme of improvements to the railway infrastructure in the North east of Scotland over the period 2014 - 2030. Faster journey times, the introduction of high speed trains from summer 2018, and increased service provision will deliver a 75 per cent increase in capacity and enhanced connectivity over the whole of the route.

Phase one is scheduled to reach completion by 2019 with agreed investment of £281 million (at 2012-13 prices). Future phases of the project will help support an hourly service between Aberdeen and Inverness, with an average journey time of around 2 hours.

Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme ( EGIP): The £795 million EGIP programme is a comprehensive programme of improvements to Scotland's railway infrastructure, rolling stock and service provision which will provide a major boost to the wealth of Scotland and its long terms economic sustainability.

The programme has already delivered a number of infrastructure improvements on time and within budget such as Haymarket Station redevelopment, electrification of the Cumbernauld line and in December 2016 the new £41 million Edinburgh Gateway rail/tram interchange.

The introduction of electric 7 car services from December 2017 and 8 car services from December 2018 remain on schedule.