by John Young
An inauspicious start to Day One of the roadworks in Dumbarton was caused by Scottish Water installing a new sewer pipe at Dalreoch as part of a £4 million environmental project.
This phase brings an eastbound lane closure on Glasgow Road and temporary traffic lights from 31 August to 7 December 2026.
At 2.30 pm today (Monday), it took me 30 minutes to get from the roundabout at the Sheriff Court to the junction of the A814 and Renton Road.
The tailback coming the other way stretched to nearly Cats Castle. All the junctions leading into the A814 were carnage, with drivers blocking the road trying to get a bit further.
I don’t know how ‘vital’ this pipe is, but I do know that the effect it’s having already is intolerable.
Local road users, particularly those from Helensburgh, Cardross and Dumbarton, are constantly inconvenienced by the seemingly endless litany of utility companies digging the roads up without consideration to the effect it has on local businesses, people requiring to get to the hospital in Paisley or simply do their shopping.
It’s all very well advising road users to seek other routes – the fact is that there are only two roads out of the area.
Also, the narrow road over the Carman Hill is being used by unsuitable vehicles (lorries, buses, etc and traffic driving far too quickly) just to avoid the jam in Dumbarton.
A serious accident there is inevitable. It’s time for a central regulator to step in and introduce some ‘joined-up thinking’ before accidents happen and the inevitable happens because the emergency services can’t get there in time due to the gridlocked traffic.
Day Two. It took me 50 minutes this morning at 7:40 am to go from the Joint Hospital at Westcliff along Cardross Road past junctions to Clerkhill, Castlehill, Brucehill, Oxhill and Comeleybank to Dalreoch junction.
Are things getting better? On Day 3 now, it’s hard to tell. There is a lot less traffic heading this way today, and I have left the house a full hour earlier than I would normally to get to my first job – but today’s tailback ‘only’ started at the new housing estate at the Cunninghame Graham Monument Park and I was through the Renton junction in 25 minutes.
The only certain thing is the impact this is already having on businesses, bus services, schools, people living along the route, and the emergency services response times.
Is that an acceptable price to pay for the next 3 months, and how ‘vital’ is this new sewage pipe?
These are questions I hope were discussed and an ‘impact’ report assessed before work commenced. Previous Governments decided that Utility Companies were being held back by Council Planning Departments and removed the need for permission that the Council gave – having carte blanche should come with checks and balances; sadly, that’s not always the case.
See also Dumbarton Notebook by BILL HEANEY
Ah the poor toon.
But its not just the works at Dalreoch because yesterday, there was absolute gridlock along the A82 with the closure of the road down to one lane. Years and years and years of underinvestment whilst promoting housing development with increasing traffic flows, accidents, undercapacity – all part as I say of the poor toon and environs.
Pity anyone yesterday in an emergency ambulance trying to get to Paisley. The death run I have heard some professional medical staff call it because road blockages on a regular basis on our inadequate infrastructure are a regular occurrence – a long with all of the road deaths that we don’t talk about.
Anyway, the blockages and grid lock are only going to get worse after the culvert installation under the A82 near Greenhead Road gets underway. As part of the long long overdue Gruggie’s Burn Flood relief scheme the works will be very welcome for the hard pressed residents in Dumbarton East who year after year have sustained horrendous flooding. So now that after decades the poor toon has got the money to do what should have been done years ago the forthcoming period of around four to five months where the A82 will be reduced to single lane stop go will be a very necessary evil.
Anyway, like the under invested A82 it’s just one of these things that folks need to live with. But yes, good that some overdue work is now finally being done.