A68 Earlston To Birkenside Junction | Road Marking Improvements

The A68 trunk road is set to benefit from improved road markings and studs between Earlston and Birkenside Junction, seven kilometres south of Lauder.

Transport Scotland’s operating company BEAR Scotland will carry out the works on the nights of Wednesday 5, Thursday 6 and Friday 7 November, between 19:30 and 06:00 each night.

For the safety of roadworkers and road users, the A68 will be closed during the works between Earlston (at the junction with the A6105) and Birkenside Junction.

The works have been programmed to tie in with works taking place on the same nights at Galadean Bridge north of Earlston, and traffic on the A68 will be able to bypass the closure using the same diversion route between Carfraemill Roundabout and Earlston via the A697, A6089 and A6105. This will add approximately 12 minutes and 7.9 miles onto affected journeys.

Consultation has been carried out with emergency services and other relevant stakeholders to make them aware of the plans and share information about the project in advance.

Emergency services will be able to pass through at all times and local access for residents living within the closure points will be maintained when it is safe to pass through the work area.

Tommy Deans, BEAR Scotland’s South East Network Manager, said: “These road marking improvement works will improve safety for motorists using the A68 between Earlston and Birkenside Junction.

“We’ve scheduled the works overnight to minimise any disruption, however we encourage motorists to plan ahead and allow extra time for their journeys if they do need to travel on these nights.”