Tree felling for Ash Dieback on minor roads around Linlithgow will bring some disruption over the next two months.
West Lothian’s countryside officers have put together a felling programme on sites ranging from Eccelesmachan to Bathgate with traffic control or partial road closures ranging from one to four days.
While the felling is along mainly B and C roads many of these are considered primary routes for locals heading into or out of Linlithgow, including the C19 route from Beecraigs to Dechmont which will be closed for four days from Monday 13 January.
In all, seven sites surrounding Linlithgow will see work, starting next week, at the B9080 at Kingscavil on 2 December.
During this second quarter of the year, July to September, the cyclical Ash Dieback surveying was undertaken by the council’s Trees and Woodland Team, over 5,000 trees were resurveyed to determine the progress of the disease. This covered B, C and U roads as well as open space / urban trees.
Felling and safety works began in mid-October in open space/urban areas, with roadside work to follow over the winter. Updates can be found on the council’s website.
West Lothian Council continues to survey and monitor ash trees across the county both on council land and on private land where trees are within falling distance of a council asset.
Surveying takes place predominantly in the summer at present surveying has been undertaken on the whole adopted road network of 640 miles and adjacent paths, including housing estates, and trees on private land.
Alongside this all schools and play areas have been surveyed and over 50% of public open space has been surveyed. This will be continually expanded upon over subsequent years.
The roads around Linlithgow which will be affected by traffic control or closure during felling operations are as follows:
B9080 – Kingscavil – Date 02/12/2024 – Duration 2 Days;
B8046 – Ecclesmachan – Date 04/12/2024 – Duration 1 Day:
C5 and C6 – Philpstoun – Date 05/12/2024 – Duration 2 Days Closure
C19 – Linlithgow – Date 09/12/2024 – Duration 1 Day -Work type – Closure
U14 – Beecraigs – Date TBC – Duration 1 Day – Work type Closure
C21 – Beecraigs to Dechmont – Date 13/01/2025 – Duration 4 Days – Work type – Closure
C17 – Bathgate to Linlithgow – Date 10/12/2024 – Duration 1 Day.
By Stuart Sommerville, Local Democracy Reporter
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency. It is funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector (in Edinburgh that is Reach plc (the publisher behind Edinburgh Live and The Daily Record) and used by many qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover news about top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
