Two major roads through Bathgate to see upgrades and resurfacing work this year
Work starts during the school holidays on Menzies Road, while Edinburgh Road will have cycle lanes introduced, in works scheduled to get under way by the turn of the year.
Councillors on the town's local area committee also asked for more speed reduction measures in the town.
Senior roads engineers attended the Bathgate committee after the chair, councillor Harry Cartmill, complained about the poor state of main roads through the town.
Graeme Burton, Design Engineering Manager, told the meeting that the aim is to have a contractor in place to resurface Menzies Road from the Menzies roundabout to North Bridge Street during the school holidays. The road passes St Mary's Primary and the Aldi supermarket.
Design plans are expected to be in place for Edinburgh Road in the Autumn; these will see installation of cycle lanes running from Guildiehaugh roundabout to the King Street car park. This work will also include partial resurfacing, but the bulk of the costs, around £750,000, will be met from the Scottish Government's Active Travel funding.
A report to the committee added: 'The scheme also includes removal of existing central refuge islands, which are uncontrolled pedestrian crossings, to be replaced with new signalised crossing points. The design will maintain north side parking lay-bys wherever possible and will involve removal of the existing on-road cycle lane markings and red textured surfacing.'
Mr Burton's report concluded: 'The project will be progressed during Summer and Autumn 2025, with procurement following shortly after. A start date on site will depend on responses from the statutory consultation, available road space and procurement times.'
Councillor Willie Boyle asked for traffic survey returns on Edinburgh Road before the work starts.
He said Kirk Road and Marjoribanks Street had seen many accidents because they had become rat run for drivers keen to escape Edinburgh Road. He called for more safety warning signs on those roads.
Councillor Boyle said: 'I'm not against the changes going in but I think we need a comparison. If there's going to be an impact, then it has to be addressed. It's not necessarily about spending thousands but something has to be done to address speeds. There's very little traffic calming on Marjoribanks Street.'
Councillor Cartmill agreed that the number of accidents was high, including one where a car had hit a house.
Thanking the engineers for their report Councillor Cartmill said: 'I'm sure everyone in Bathgate will welcome this. Menzies Road was pretty much uncyclable, and undriveable.
'With Edinburgh Road, at least now we are seeing things starting to move.'
By Stuart Sommerville, Local Democracy Reporter
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