Hamilton-Strathaven road re-opens after safety works

Nov 26 2008 by David Wynn, East Kilbride News

SAFETY improvements to the A723 Hamilton to Strathaven road have been completed.

The road was re-opened to all traffic at the weekend three days ahead of schedule.

The road, which has an accident rate 50 per cent higher than the national average for A-class rural roads, has had two serious and 14 slight injury accidents over the past three years.

The maintenance and safety improvements which have taken place cost around £850,000 and among the measures introduced were:

Anti-skid surfacing at the tightest bends

Improved signing

Vehicle activated signs advising speeding drivers that they are approaching a junction and that they should slow down

New centre and edge lines along whole of the route

East Kilbride councillor, Chris Thompson, who is SLC’s chairman of Enterprise said: "The improvements to the A723 are part of the council's £2.1m Route Action Plan programme for 2008/09.

"This ambitious programme will see seven of the most dangerous roads in South Lanarkshire benefiting from a range of safety measures.

"In order to ensure that the most accident-prone roads are treated first we use quite a complex set of calculations to compare the various routes. Using these calculations we can then identify and make improvements to the roads where the most accidents occur.

"I am delighted that the works on the A723 were completed ahead of schedule and would like to thank everyone for their patience during this period."