Sturgeon: Queensferry Crossing disruption 'will be minimised'

The new crossing was officially opened in September

Nicola Sturgeon has told commuters there will be no further peak time lane closures on the Queensferry Crossing for snagging work.

The new £1.35bn bridge will close to southbound traffic for five days, from 22:00 on Thursday, for resurfacing.

But speaking at First Minister's Questions, Ms Sturgeon said any further work would be done at night.

It emerged on Wednesday that the faults on the bridge were known about before it officially opened in September.

Transport Scotland officials told the Scottish Parliament's transport committee on Wednesday that the surfacing problems were caused by a workmanship error, and had been known about since August.

But they said it was only recently that a solution had been drawn up, and that the potential impact on road users was known.

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The committee was also told that more lane restrictions could be expected on the crossing over the next 10 months due to "snagging" issues.

Speaking at FMQs, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson accused the Scottish government of "pushing through" the bridge's opening before it was ready.

She added: "In September it was 'job done' and pats on the back all round. But on Monday we were told there'd be another five days of work needed, and then yesterday those five days became another 10 months of possible disruption."

'Entirely normal'

And she said it "jarred" that the Scottish government had held the bridge up as a "symbol of SNP competence" when it opened, but was now not taking responsibility for the problems.

The first minister responded by saying that snagging work was "entirely normal" for an infrastructure project on the scale of the Queensferry Crossing, and urged a sense of perspective.

And she said any further work would done in a way that "minimises inconvenience" to the public.

Ms Sturgeon came under pressure over the bridge at FMQs

She added: "The work that will start tonight is the only identified snagging work that will require peak-time lane closures.

"Any future lane closures that can't be avoided will be at night, not during the day, and not during peak hours.

"Under the contract all snagging works are carried out at no additional cost to the Scottish government."

'Troublesome facts'

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie later asked Ms Sturgeon: "Who spends over a billion pounds on a bridge then closes it weeks later?"

Mr Rennie added: "This government's priority has been to not disrupt the ceremony with troublesome facts."

The exchanges came after Transport Secretary Humza Yousaf revealed he only found out that the resurfacing work was required last week.

He told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: "As ministers we only found this out last week - when they found out about this problem, they tried to get a solution that didn't involve a partial lane closure, that didn't involve the 15 metres of tarmac they're now going to have to strip back.

"They exhausted all avenues. They couldn't find that solution. It's going to now involve partial lane closures for five days over a weekend and therefore they came to us to tell us that and we, of course, were completely up front."

The Queensferry Crossing will be closed southbound from 22:00 on Thursday until next Wednesday morning, with southbound traffic diverted onto the nearby Forth Road Bridge.