Bypass relief for thousands of motorists

THE first stretch a new bypass taking traffic away from one of the most notorious bottlenecks has been officially opened – more than 50 years after the route was first proposed.

Once completed, the £31.5 million bypass, skirting the villages of Fochabers and Mosstodloch in Moray, will cut the amount of traffic passing through the two communities by about 10,000 vehicles a day and end years of misery for drivers on the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness.

The opening was carried out by transport minister Keith Brown, who said: “The bypass is a strategically important improvement scheme for the A96 trunk road and this is the first part of the project to open.”

When finally completed next spring, the bypass will link the A96 from the west of Mosstodloch, running to the north of Fochabers, before reconnecting with the A96 and A98.