Community representatives, designers, consultants, West Lothian Council and Network Rail joined John Hamilton, CEO of Winchburgh Developments Ltd, to mark the opening of the bridge over the Glasgow to Edinburgh rail line on the ‘core road’ that now runs through the heart of the expanding community.

The bridge directly connects the B8020 at Beatlie Road in the east, near the new M9 motorway junction, with the new town centre and flagship Sainsbury’s supermarket on to the three-school education campus in the west. This new bridge will relieve the pressure on the existing main street within the village and will create shorter journeys within Winchburgh.

John Hamilton said: “The opening of the bridge connection today is a key element to one of the country’s biggest placemaking projects and the opening will allow many other developments in Winchburgh, such as employment uses and development of the town centre, to continue with the requisite infrastructure in place.

“We have committed to working in this way – with infrastructure developed first – because we use a placemaking approach, meaning there is more than new houses to enjoy when residents move in. We are grateful to our contractors RJ McLeod, I&H Brown and Story for their hard work, and to the community for their support while the agreements to open the rail bridge over the road was finalised.”

Lawrence Fitzpatrick, leader of West Lothian Council, said: “Winchburgh is a core development area in West Lothian and the transformation in the village is incredible. This road is an important part of the new infrastructure and we’re delighted that it is open.”

Duncan Brown, director of I&H Brown, said: “We have delivered two projects, namely the Winchburgh Railway Overbridge and the Eastern Distributor Road, which form part of this key piece of infrastructure in Winchburgh. The opening of the bridge will enable much improved access and traffic flow around Winchburgh. We delivered our first project for Winchburgh Developments back in May 2019, and have since delivered numerous projects at the town. It has been incredible to see the masterplan take shape and we are proud to have played our part.”

Scott Marr, project manager at RJ McLeod, said: “It’s great to see the core road now open and improving access for the Winchburgh community. The various parts of the Winchburgh development jigsaw were challenging and complex projects and we are proud to have played our part in successfully delivering the Union Canal bridge, the town centre roads, the M9 Junction and the Beatlie Road rail bridge improvements.”

Winchburgh Developments is responsible for the development masterplan and is behind the implementation of the major infrastructure that will allow Winchburgh to continue its expansion. Last year saw the opening of the M9 motorway junction in both directions and the completion of the education campus, while last month a new 20-berth marina was opened on the Union Canal.

The firm has planned and co-ordinated the construction of more than 1000 houses in Winchburgh since 2012, with that number expected to quadruple to 4000 by 2034/35, resulting in a rise in population of the community to 13,000 – on a par with the current scale of nearby Linlithgow.