Chapelton Bridge expected to open on Friday 2 August

Chapelton Bridge widening in the home straight

Contractors, working to widen the Chapelton Bridge at Glen Avenue, are confident that the work will be finished by Friday 2 August but the final completion date is subject to the weather.

This week should see the finishing touches being applied to the project with contractors installing:

  • New surfacing
  • Crash barriers
  • New kerbing
  • Speed cushions
  • New road markings.

Councillor Michael McCormick, Convener of Inverclyde Council’s Environment & Regeneration Committee said, “We are in the home straight now but some of the final pieces of work, such as putting down the new road markings, are weather dependent.

“Our contractors are confident that they will have everything finished by Friday 2 August but we do ask people to bear with us just a little bit longer if the weather causes any additional hold ups. This is an important project and it will play a major role in improving road safety and cutting congestion when it’s finished.

The £650,000 project is being funded by the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT). Councillor David Wilson, Chair of SPT’s Operations Committee and Inverclyde’s representative on the SPT Board, said, “This major project is now nearing completion. Thanks to the significant funding from SPT, the new Chapelton Bridge will represent a significant improvement to the local road network, particularly in terms of creating a viable alternative route if there are problems on the A8. We appreciate that this has caused a lot of disruption and we thank local people for their patience.”

The bridge widening will now provide a 6.5m wide carriageway with 2m wide footways on both sides which makes it much more user friendly for pedestrians and cyclists – an important consideration as Chapelton Bridge is the one of the key routes to St John’s Primary School.

In November 2018 Inverclyde Council started widening the single-lane Chapelton Bridge.  The first phase of the project involved diverting the water, gas and electricity utilities that ran under the bridge. This was finished in December 2018. The second phase of the project, widening the bridge itself, started on site Monday 4 March.