- A £5.9m new railway bridge at Milton by Bowling came into use on Boxing Day during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
- The bridge is said to be an integral part of a major project to unlock future development of the heavily polluted Esso oil tank farm site.
- The tank farm and river terminal operated for more than 50 years on the banks of the River Clyde between Dunglass roundabout on the A82 Glasgow-Loch Lomond road.
The official briefing about the bridge is that it will open up direct access to the 150-acre site, “transforming it into a hub with space for industrial units, storage facilities, distribution centres and office space.”
But there is no mention yet of any deals being done with any companies interested in taking up production there, and West Dunbartonshire Council refuses to discuss the matter with The Dumbarton Democrat.
For example, why are new factories being built there when there is factory space lying vacant at Vale of Leven Industrial Estate and other local sites?
The new site is said to form part of the wider Glasgow City Region City Deal “aimed at improving transport links and supporting economic growth, and encouraging more sustainable development” .
Although the publicity briefing states that the finance for this is coming from the Glasgow City Region Deal, it mentions nothing of the fact that £6 million has been borrowed from allegedly cash-strapped West Dunbartonshire Council.
More money towards the cost is believed to be currently being sought from the Council despite the fact that land owner, Exxon, is mega rich and they are the principal operators of another site at Mossmorran in Fife, which they are shutting down and moving lock stock and barrel to England, making 400 workers redundant.
Meanwhile, West Dunbartonshire Council is claiming it has no money and that there is a £7 million “black hole” in their budget which will necessitate making cuts to add to the savings they made in the current financial year by axing grass cutting and other essential services throughout the area.
They were finally forced to do this shamefacedly by a campaign led by The Democrat and thousands of council taxpayers.
The Bowling bridge is being delivered by Network Rail, in partnership with West Dunbartonshire Council and Story Contracting.
Laura Craig, scheme project manager at Network Rail Scotland, said: “This bridge will play such an important role in the wider project to bring new life to the former Exxon site.
Approximately 80,000 tonnes of polluted earth material was cleared from the site in preparation for casting the new 2,500 tonne bridge structure.
Over the festive period, more work was undertaken, including removing part of the railway embankment to make space for the new bridge, then rolling the bridge into place and reinstating the track, overhead lines and signalling infrastructure.
During that time, there were no trains between Dalmuir and Balloch/Helensburgh Central, or between Glasgow Queen Street and Crianlarich, between 24 December and start of service on 2 January 2026. This affected Caledonian Sleeper services to Fort William.
Network Rail and train operators said they were working together to support local communities and passengers. construction of a new road.
West Dunbartonshire Councillor David McBride said: “The infrastructure at this location will benefit many residents as well as people visiting West Dunbartonshire and I look forward to seeing this project continue to progress.”
Laura Craig, scheme project manager at Network Rail Scotland, said: “Building such a huge bridge on site and then moving it into position is an incredible task, and it’s been amazing to see the planning and teamwork come together so successfully.
“The project is being funded as part of the Glasgow City Region Deal, a package agreed between the UK and Scottish governments with local authorities in a bid to improve infrastructure and economic growth.”
Councillor David McBride, West Dunbartonshire Council’s infrastructure convener, said: “While there has been some disruption on the trains, this has been minimised by the work being carried out over the festive period.”
Meanwhile, although the Council and contractors say there was little inconvenience or traffic disruption on the A82, the following was one of a number of reports of just that in that area: A police officer is among three people taken to hospital after two crashes which led to traffic jams and road chaos in West Dunbartonshire.
There was yet another motorbike crash on the A82 near to Dunglass roundabout in Bowling around 6.55pm on Saturday, September 7, causing long tailbacks in both directions beyond Dumbuck juunction, the Erskine Bridge and further south towards Glasgow at the Kilbowie roundabout.
The roundabout at Dunglass is one of a number on the A82 which are regarded as dangerous.
Motorbike crashes are now commonplace further north of the Loch Lomondside section of the A82.
A second crash at Dunglass which involved a car and a police vehicle then occurred with a male police officer taken to the Royal Alexandra Hospital alongside a 28-year-old woman.
The 53-year-old male rider of the motorcycle was also taken to hospital for treatment.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 6.55pm on Saturday, September 7, 2024, officers were attending a single motorbike crash on the A82 Bowling near to Dunglass roundabout, Bowling.
“A second crash then occurred nearby involving a car and a police vehicle.
“The 53-year-old male motorcyclist, a 28-year-old woman and a male officer were taken to the Royal Alexandra Hospital for treatment.
The most recent incident caused trains to be halted at Milton after a gas pipe fractured under the site at the bridge.
Although road traffic on the A82 continued, it was revealed that this was a serious incident which, if things had gone other than they did, the possibility existed of an extremely serious accident because there were highly flammable whisky storage warehouses nearby.
And now (Thursday), Amey, working on behalf of Transport Scotland, will close lanes in both directions of the A82 for a three-mile stretch between Dunglass Roundabout and Glasgow Road this month.
The single-lane closures will be in place from Monday, January 19 until Saturday, January 24, between 8pm and 6am each night.
Access for emergency service vehicles will be maintained throughout the works, which are weather dependent and may be cancelled or rescheduled if conditions prove unfavourable.
I think if folks knew just how much the costs have ballooned on this Milton road and marine industrial estate project they would realize that the reported council shortfall of £7m is by comparison chicken feed.
Initial project budget for Milton was originally around £18m but is now being anecdotally reported at approaching £55 m. And of course whilst the new Dumbarton library cost mat be a secret, the word is that the costs for that have ballooned too from around £7m to £12 m.
And don’t ask about the Arizan way demolition. That was supposed to take an initial 22 weeks but ran to just over a year with costs to match. And the site is still boarded up with part of the car park closed whilst a rump part of the building still upstairs. Seems that the council didn’t know there were services and two electricity transformer sub stations inside the remaining bit of broken building.
So who has any control over this profligate and wasteful council. Every project they do just leaks money like a seive. And now, in the latest allegedly cash strapped council they want to shut the Vale of Leven swimming pool.
And next year apparently the WDC want to increase council tax by 15%..
No wonder the council will not speak to the Democrat. High time the light of disinfectant was poured into this council. Time people knew where their money is being squandered.