Islanders on Coll and Tiree are being invited to public meetings to hear more about work which will see passenger-only ferry services being operated.
Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) will host events on both islands to update communities on plans for the forthcoming linkspan replacement project.
Two public drop-in sessions have been arranged to share details of the work and discuss the alternative service arrangements which will be put in place by CalMac throughout the duration of the upgrades.
The Coll meeting will be held at An Cridhe, Coll Community Centre, on Monday September 2. The Tiree meeting will take place at An Talla community hall on Tuesday September 3. Both sessions will be held from 4pm to 7.30pm and people can drop in at any point during those times.
The linkspan closure date for Coll is Monday, October 28 and it will re-open on Thursday, November 21. The Tiree linkspan will be out of service from Monday February 24, 2020 and will return to service on Tuesday, March 17.
CalMac will operate a passenger-only service during the replacement project, supplemented by a lift on/lift off freight service. Vehicles will not be transported during the linkspan closure periods.
Representatives from CMAL and CalMac will attend the meetings along with consulting engineer, Mott MacDonald and the appointed contractor, George Leslie Limited.
Brian Sydney, senior civil engineer at CMAL, said: “The projects at Coll and Tiree are part of CMAL’s ongoing programme of harbour upgrades and improvements.
“We understand transport is vital for the islands and our aim is to cause as little disruption to island life as possible. If we can reduce the timescale of closures, we will.
“Both islands will essentially remain ‘open for business’ throughout the linkspan replacement period. Alternative passenger and freight services will be put in place throughout the duration of the work. However, there will be no access for vehicles moving to and from the island.
“We encourage both communities to attend the events and take advantage of the opportunity to speak with the representatives in attendance.
“We hope that this will allow locals to prepare for the disruption to services whilst upgrade activities are carried out.”
Robert Morrison, head of service delivery operations at Calmac Ferries Ltd, said: “We look forward to taking this opportunity to give more detail of the contingency plans we are putting in place to minimise disruption to our customers.”
