'Ambitious' £22m upgrade project will see Aurs Road closed for a year in East Renfrewshire

A key road linking Barrhead and Newton Mearns is set to close for a year as part of a £22m project to transform the route.

The work to upgrade and improve Aurs Road will begin on January 8 2024 and change it from a winding, single carriage road to a safer, straighter road with a new active travel route overlooking Balgray Reservoir.

To facilitate the improvements, it is expected that the road will be closed for around 12 months until December 2024 from the junction of Springfield Road in Barrhead to the junction of Stewarton Road in Newton Mearns.

Diversion routes will be in place via Stewarton Road, Nitshill Road and Darnley Road.

Led by East Renfrewshire Council, the ambitious £22.68m project will be funded through £12.72m from the Glasgow City Region City Deal, which is made up of £5.5m in funding by both the UK and Scottish governments and £1.72m from East Renfrewshire Council.

The rest of the funding is provided by Transport Scotland through Sustrans’ Places for Everyone programme, the Scottish Government’s Bridge Fund and developer contributions from new house building projects in the area.

Once complete, the planned improvements to Aurs Road will straighten out two sections of the road and replacing a weak road bridge, create a waterside promenade with views overlooking the reservoir, and create a 4km circular walking and cycling route around Balgray Reservoir for park visitors for the first time.

Essential reservoir maintenance works will also be carried out on behalf of Scottish Water while the road closure is in place.

East Renfrewshire council leader, Owen O’Donnell said: “I’m delighted that work will be starting in January on the ambitious Aurs Road project. The delivery of a much improved and straightened road with active travel link – improving connections between Barrhead and Newton Mearns is fantastic news for our communities.

“I am excited to see work on the promenade and circular loop around Balgray Reservoir progress, making Dams to Darnley Country Park a more accessible and desirable location to go for a walk or cycle.

“While I appreciate that there will be some inconvenience caused by the road closure, the transformative impact of this project for generations to come will make the end result worthwhile.”

Contractor Graham Construction Ltd has been appointed to carry out the construction.