West Lothian Council

23/06/2025

M9 J3-J4 – BRIDGE DECK REFURBISHMENT WORKS

BEAR Scotland, acting on behalf of Transport Scotland, are planning to carry out maintenance works on the bridge that carries the M9 over Bonsyde Road between M9 Junction 3 and Junction 4

The works are expected to last for three months and will require lane restrictions on the M9 between Junctions 3 and 4 as well as a series of overnight closures.

To minimise impact to the travelling public, most of the works have been programmed to take place under alternative lane closures/contraflow which will utilise the hard shoulder and will allow for two lanes to be open in each direction. However to ensure the safety of the workforce on site certain activities will have to take place under overnight road closures.

To allow the works to be carried out safely and to minimise disruption to traffic the M9 Eastbound and Westbound carriageway between J3 and J4 will be closed to the public overnight on Monday 30th June.
Below is a breakdown of the closures and the dates they will be in effect

A diversion route will be in place, detailed below.

Please also refer to the attached diversion drawing for further details.

Access for emergency vehicles will be maintained at all times.

Following the road closure a series of lane closures will be in place.

30 June – 1 July from 20:00 – 06:00
M9 Eastbound Carriageway Between J3 and J4 Eastbound Closure with signed diversions via Bo’ness between Junction 3 & 4.

Traffic will be directed to leave the M9 at Junction 5 and follow the A905 and the A904, then A993 through Bo’ness, then follow the A804, and the A903 to region the M9 at junction 3. This will add an estimated 1.5 miles and add ten minutes to journey times.

30 June – 1 July from 20:00 – 06:00
M9 Westbound Carriageway Between J3 and J4 Westbound Closure with signed diversions via Bo’ness between Junction 3 & 4.

Traffic will be directed to leave the M9 at Junction 3 and follow the A803, the A904, the A993 through Bo’ness, the A904 and the A905 to re-join the M9 westbound at Junction 5. This will add an estimated 1.5 miles and add ten minutes to journey times.

30 June- 4 September
M9 Westbound Carriageway Between J3 and J4 A series of Lane closures/contraflow between junction 3&4 using the hard shoulder to maintain 2 lanes open in each direction.

Details of further overnight closures will be announced when timings are confirmed.

Even though the diversion is a short one, they have planned these works to take place overnight to minimise disruption to traffic.

23/06/2025

The council’s Adult Learning team are partnering with the Community Woods and Garden Polbeth and West Calder, to offer free family learning sessions during the summer break. Families can attend gardening, DIY, papermaking and creative sessions. The cooking session is now full; register for some of the other sessions before they are fully booked!

23/06/2025

The Customer Service Centre is currently experiencing system issues. We are unable to log enquiries for Operational Services which includes Waste management, Cemeteries, Roads, Garden and grass maintenance.

If it is an emergency please hold on or leave a voicemail and we will respond to you.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused and we thank you for your patience.

23/06/2025

As part of the council’s ‘Get into Summer’ programme, the Active Schools & Community Sport team have coordinated a fantastic FREE coach education programme.

Aimed at secondary pupils of 14+ years old, these courses and workshops give young people an opportunity to gain recognised governing body awards and qualifications. Several sports are on offer and the courses provide young people with a great opportunity to learn, meet new people and to take a first step onto the coaching pathway as a young leader!

For further details and to apply for a place, please visit https://sway.cloud.microsoft/z09ZxiVdyrqgxzDh?ref=Link

23/06/2025

Biodiversity Month is coming to West Lothian this August!

Join us as we celebrate the amazing wildlife and natural spaces right on our doorstep. With walks, talks, family-friendly events, and hands-on activities running all month long, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.

🗓️ Even more events are still to be announced!
👉 Check out the full list of events here: WL Biodiversity Month events - https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/biodiversity-month-4400903?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=creatorshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=odclsxcollection&utm-source=cp&aff=escb


Please note that some events need to be booked directly through the organisation so make sure you read the event description before booking.

If you haven’t heard about Biodiversity Month but you would like to have an event included please get in touch at ecology&[email protected] “

23/06/2025

A Fireworks Safety Awareness Raising Event took place at Blackburn Partnership Centre in April.

The Community Safety Partnership (CSP) held the event which set out current legislation relating to the use of fireworks. The CSP includes Police Scotland, Fire and Rescue Service and West Lothian Council.

The aim of the session was to:
• provide an opportunity to gather views on the West Lothian Community Safety approach to firework safety
• to offer an opportunity to stakeholders to share their views on the legislation which controls the sale and supply of fireworks and to feed these comments back to the Scottish Government for further review.

Councillors have also instructed council officers to write to the Scottish Government asking them to review:-
• a ban on the sale of noise making fireworks for general sale and only have sales of silent or reduced noise fireworks available to the general public
• community led action to establish designated firework zones

Community councils, Community Action Blackburn, Hopetoun House representatives and West Calder & Harburn Community Development trust attended the event and the following feedback was put forward:

1. All participants agreed that here is a requirement for a National Awareness Campaign on firework safety and the legislation relating to fireworks. This should cover impact, noise, mess from fired fireworks, anti social behaviour, parental responsibility, education, legislative provisions and penalties for breaches

2. Participants were of the view that consideration should be given to requiring persons who wish to hold a public firework display to be licenced to be able to purchase fireworks and that a public fireworks display should only be permitted during prescribed dates/times.

3. Participants agreed that there should be a restriction on the dates during which fireworks can be purchased by members of the public and also a further restriction on the dates when members of the public can for set off fireworks should be reduced

4. There was agreement from all participants that consideration should be given to promoting the use of low noise fireworks or introducing a restriction on the use of noise making fireworks.
The feedback will now be shared with the Scottish Government with a request that it is taken into consideration in any future reviews of Fireworks legislation, to make Scotland a safer place.

The issue will be discussed in detail at tomorrow’s Public and Community Safety Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel. The link to the paper is in comments

23/06/2025

Thank you to all those that attended the Armed Forces Day event at the Civic Centre this morning.

Armed Forces Day is a chance to show your support for the men and women who make up the Armed Forces community: from currently serving personnel to Service families, veterans and cadets. The Armed Forces Day flag will remain in place for a week in honour of our country’s armed forces.

A special mention for Piper Christopher Drummond, from St Margaret’s Academy, who played whilst the flag was raised. The short event included council staff and invited guests.

21/06/2025

Pipe bands, Queens and Pokémon! It must be Gala Day! Wishing all of today’s galas the best time.

21/06/2025

The Summer Reading Challenge starts now! Take part in a summer of fun reading and activities by joining in! You can sign up in your local library from today or online here Summer Reading Challenge

For all our library opening times and contact details, please visit https://www.westlothian.gov.uk/your-library

You can find out more about the Summer Reading Challenge and all of our fun activities that are taking place across our libraries on our webpage here Summer Reading Challenge - West Lothian Council

The Summer Reading Challenge is a great way to get your little ones reading over the Summer holidays and is open to all primary school aged children and is designed for all reading abilities.
There is lots of fun for everyone so get involved and fall back in love with reading! What are you waiting for?

20/06/2025

The sun looks set to shine for all the West Lothian gala events taking place tomorrow (Saturday 21 June).
Galas are taking place include Linlithgow and Linlithgow Bridge, Armadale, Deans, Stoneyburn and Bents, Kirknewton and Loganlea and District.
Thanks as always must go to all the amazing volunteers who give up their free time to make sure that our communities have such fabulous events to bring them together
To get you in the gala mood, here are a selection of pics from gala events in the past, courtesy of our ever helpful colleagues at West Lothian Council - Museums, Local History and Archives.

20/06/2025

Get ready for summer! 🏀⚽️🥅⛳️🚴‍♂️🎨🎻
The Get into Summer 2025 Programme will provide holiday activities over the school holidays.
Get into Summer offers a wide range of free activities for children, young people and families including: day trips, sports, arts and crafts, music, drama, team games, digital media, STEM, cookery and outdoor learning.
The programme is in collaboration with children, young people, families, partner providers and West Lothian Council and is funded by the council.

In addition, the council will make direct payments to the families of children and young people entitled to free school meals over the summer holiday period.

Check out what Summer activities are taking place in your area this summer: 👇

Get into Summer offers a wide range of free activities for children, young people and families including: day trips, sports, arts and crafts, music, drama, team games, digital media, STEM, cookery and outdoor learning.

20/06/2025

Motorists of Livingston... we have some welcome news.

Work is complete on the Almond Valley Bridge project. The removal of traffic measures on the A899 dual carriageway will start from tonight (Friday 20 June) to allow the road to return to normal as soon as possible.

Many thanks to drivers for their patience and understanding while this important project was carried out.

As a reminder - The Almond Valley Bridge is the largest of its kind in West Lothian carrying the A899 dual carriageway, between Almond Interchange and Centre Interchange, over the River Almond close to Livingston town centre.

The last time major refurbishment and resurfacing was carried out on this bridge was in 2011, fourteen years ago. In the interim there has been other works to the bridge (including edge beam repairs in 2017, joint replacement in 2018 and painting to the underside in 2021) and there has also been some emergency patching. Due to the scale of the bridge (the largest in West Lothian, 10 spans, six lanes wide, 300 metres long) it is inevitable that regular maintenance is required in order to keep it in good shape.

In the video, you can see footage taken a few weeks back that depicts part of the waterproofing process - The white material is the actual waterproofing membrane, the red material laid on top is a bond coat which activates when the hot surfacing material is laid on top. This then forms a better bond between the waterproofing and surfacing layers.