May start for £31.5m Maybole Bypass

Irish contractor Wills Bros Civil Engineering has started work on a £31.5m contract to build the Maybole Bypass on the A77 in Ayr, South West Scotland.

The project for Transport Scotland will involve the construction of 5km of carriageway with associated junctions and includes opportunities for overtaking in the design. Work will also be required to tie-in the new bypass to the existing A77 trunk road.

Wills Bros beat John Paul, RJ McLeod and a joint venture between Farrans and Roadbridge to the job from a shortlist of bidders announced in December 2017.

At that time, Transport Scotland said work was expected to get underway on the main construction by the end of 2018.

The Scottish Government’s cabinet secretary for transport, infrastructure and connectivity, Michael Matheson, was on site on Wednesday (22 May) to break ground on the new bypass, which will be built to the north of Maybole.

Mr Matheson said: ‘The project will deliver benefits for both road users and the local community and builds upon the significant investment already delivered across ten improvement projects on the A75 and A77 since 2007.'