Friarton Bridge Works Will Pause Every Winter Until 2030; Perth Hails ‘the Most Polite Roadworks in History’ That Wait for It to Stop Snowing
Lane closures for edge beam replacement are planned from April 2027, with a moratorium from November to March. Drivers are touched.
The Friarton Bridge over the Tay: about to get some careful attention, in the warmer months. Photo: Lis Burke, “Friarton Bridge”, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Edge beam replacement on the Friarton Bridge is listed on the council’s roadworks schedule from April 2027 to October 2030, with lane closures that will pause every winter from November to March.
Perth drivers have been surprised by the arrangement. “Roadworks that take the winter off?” said a man from Craigie. “That’s lovely. They’re like a cat. They come out when it’s sunny and curl up when it’s cold.”
Bridge engineers say avoiding works in winter keeps traffic moving at the busiest and most dangerous time of year. Perth drivers say this makes perfect sense and they would like other roadworks to learn from it.
“Every pothole on my street gets filled in January, in the rain, at rush hour,” said a woman from Letham. “Then it comes back in February. If they’d done it in June, I’d have had a pothole-free summer. I’d have had a summer, full stop.”
The Friarton Bridge carries the M90 over the Tay and is one of the main routes into Perth. The Perthetic says it will check in on it next spring, gently.
The real story: Perth and Kinross proposed road works
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Stopping for the winter? That’s the most Scottish building plan I’ve ever heard. Very sensible.
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2030. I’ll be retired by then. I’ll drive over it in a camper van and wave at everyone.
— Jackie D., Perth, 1 November 2026
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