From 8 August the area currently used for lorry parking at the Forth Road Bridge will be reserved for staff and visitor car and coach parking so will be closed to HGVs.

The Forth Road Bridge car park will permanently close to heavy goods vehicles from Monday 8 August, 2011.

Space for lorry parking will no longer be available due to construction of a new building to accommodate the contact and education centre for the new Forth crossing and Traffic Scotland’s National Traffic Control Centre.

From 8 August the area currently used for car parking will become part of the new building’s construction site and the area currently used for lorry parking will be reserved for staff and visitor car and coach parking.

The change will be permanent as additional car and coach parking spaces will be required to accommodate increased staff and visitor numbers once construction of the new building is complete.

FETA Convener (Forth Estuary Transport Authority) Phil Wheeler said: “At the Forth Road Bridge we appreciate that the removal of HGV parking may cause some inconvenience to lorry drivers accustomed to using this site, however we’ve spoken to representatives of the haulage industry and they understand why this needs to happen.”

He continued: “The new visitor and traffic facility will be a very positive development for the Forth Bridges and for the local area.  Our priority now is to get the message out to drivers and hauliers so that they can adjust their plans in advance of the closure. We’ll also provide any support required by local authorities and the regional transport partnership as they plan lorry parking capacity throughout the region as a whole.”