'Temporary' lights between Thornhill and Sanquhar to go after five years

The lights have been in place on the A76 for five years

Work is to start on a £2.8m project to reroute a section of the A76 away from a dangerously unstable embankment.

The stretch of road between Thornhill and Sanquhar has been down to a single lane and controlled by temporary traffic lights for five years.

There have been repeated calls from residents, businesses and politicians to have the traffic signals removed.

Now major work is to begin this week at the site and is scheduled to take 30 weeks to complete.

Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said: "We pledged to make improvements on the A76 at the south west's first ever transport summit, and this project will deliver greater resilience to this important route by diverting the road away from the area that is prone to landslips.

"Ultimately, this project will help provide more reliable journey times for motorists and businesses along the full length of the A76, as well as improving connectivity in the region and further afield to Northern Ireland."

Work will take the route away from the embankment prone to landslips

Scotland TranServ's principal engineer, Charles Macklin, said it had continued to work closely with the community over its plans.

"Following extensive investigation works and geotechnical surveys, we have been able to programme these works to reduce the impact on the local community and businesses continuing to use this route," he said.

"We have fully considered a number of options and found the realignment of the carriageway to be the best long-term solution.

"We will continue to work with the community and stakeholders as the project develops on site, and keep them updated with our progress."