Businesses and residents brace themselves for roadworks

The four-month project will be carried out in three phases, with multiple road closures necessary to accommodate for repairs carried by gas distribution company SGN.

The work involves replacing old, metal gas mains with more durable plastic pipe to ensure continued safe gas supply in the area.

Already underway, Castlegreen Street and Greenhead Road have been closed at their junctions with Glasgow Road.

One of the main routes in and out of Dumbarton, Glasgow Road itself will then also be closed at the junction for six weeks beginning on Tuesday 28 May.

The road closures follow recent travel disturbance caused by work at the Dumbarton Central railway bridge, which lead to road diversions across town and traffic delays.

To help minimise further disruption, SGN have agreed to allow West Dunbartonshire council to carry out resurfacing work planned for later in the year to instead take place whilst the gas maintenance is carried out.

In an information pack shared by the West Dunbartonshire Council Facebook page, SGN said: “We are sorry about any inconvenience our work causes and would like to thank road users for their patience.

“This is a complex engineering project, however we always aim to minimise disruption whenever possible.”

The post has already received over 400 comments and 200 shares, with Holly Burrows writing: “9 weeks where getting out of my street/travelling locally is going to be a nightmare?!? Great… great timing just after the works that were already causing long delays at the exact same area.”

Another Facebook user Graeme Lavery added: “Shutting this part of Glasgow Road in summer is going to cause chaos.”

The work is also set to impact several local businesses located near the junction, however hairdresser Thomas Dennett is hopeful that disruption will be kept to a minimum.

The manager of Elements Hair Studio on Greenhead Road said: “At the moment we are busy enough, but obviously nine weeks down the line it might be a different story.

“I realise these guys are only doing their job and I would rather have this than an explosion – its just about working together.”

For small businesses that may face a loss of trade as a result of the road works, SGN has offered a compensation scheme that local business owners may be eligible to qualify for.