From today, North Lanarkshire Council will start work on improvements to the pedestrian and cycling route between Asda and the Civic Centre.

This will involve widening and resurfacing paths, a new junction arrangement at Watsonville Park and Oakfield Road to create more space for pedestrians and cyclists, and new dropped kerbs for better access.

The work will take place over eight weeks in phases on a number of local streets: Barrie Street, Watsonville Park, Oakfield Road, Cairns Street, Airbles Street, Parkhead Street and Camp Street.

Access to residential properties and service arrangements for commercial properties will be maintained throughout the works.

The final stage of work at West Hamilton Street will start soon and be carried out over four weeks.

This will include completion of the crossing between the shopping centre and Aldi, widening of the path between Aldi and Asda and upgrading of the signalised pedestrian crossing at Asda.

Temporary traffic lights will be in place on the roundabout next to Asda and Motherwell Shopping Centre during the work.

Overall, the project is delivering widened footpaths to enable shared use for walking, wheeling and cycling as well as widened pedestrian and cyclist crossings, including the roundabout island at West Hamilton Street.

Essential repairs to the bus stop laybys on both sides of West Hamilton Street have also been carried out, along with road resurfacing.

Work on this project was paused in October to allow other works to be carried out within the town centre.

Both projects are part of the Motherwell Station Active Travel Links project to create walking and cycling routes and crossings in the town centre between the rail station and the new transport hub on Muir Street, the Civic Centre, Braidhurst Industrial Estate and Strathclyde Country Park.

This is designed to encourage a move to sustainable active travel for everyday journeys and improve access to opportunities and services for people who don’t have a car. It will also reduce congestion and improve air quality in Motherwell town centre.

The work is being funded by the Scottish Government’s Place Based Investment Programme and the UK Government Shared Prosperity Fund and Transport Scotland.