An Aberdeenshire road has been closed for up to six months for tree-felling and repair works.
The Insch area was badly battered by Storm Arwen, and now the council has confirmed the U68 at Headiton will be shut to repair the damage.
Roads across the whole of the north-east were battered by weather conditions that left thousands without power for over a week.Â
Trees will be chopped safely and the carriageways will also be repaired along with verges.
Landowners will set about removing trees in the area before “substantial” repair work to the verges and sections of the road surface begin.
Essential access will be maintained to properties and businesses, and residents have been advised to determine their safest route home.
Trees are landowners responsibility
Brian Strachan, road manager for Garioch and Kincardine and Mearns, has said that the trees, root plates and stumps are the responsibility of local landowners.
He said: “The trees remain the responsibility of the adjacent landowners who have taken prompt action to cut up and remove the bulk of the main trunks.
“However the root plates and stumps, together with the overhanging trees are also their responsibility and we hope they will take action to make safe and clear the area at an early date.
“Once all the trees and stumps have been removed, we will repair the road verges and the road surface itself, but cannot start this process until the tree work is fully completed.”
Since Storm Arwen council teams and landowners have had to fell trees and clear a significant amount of Aberdeenshire roads.
The work has been done to re-open the region’s rural road network, but Aberdeenshire Council has warned that a “substantial” amount of work is still to come.
They have advised that landowners must ensure they remove all hanging and fallen trees, together with stumps and roots that lie adjacent to our roadside verges, to make the network safe for all road users.
And earlier this week, the Bailies of Bennachie urged people to stay off the hill as they released drone images showing the true extent of the damage in the area.
For updates on road closures across Aberdeenshire visit our closures page.Â
