NORTH Ayrshire is set to benefit from £480,000 of new travel improvements.

These include £255,000 of improvements to Stevenston’s Hawkhill Roundabout, an upgrade of £150,000 to the A841 Brodick to Lochranza ferry link, £70,000 for general bus stop improvements across North Ayrshire and £5,000 for improvements to the bus infrastructure in Irvine town centre.

All of the remaining ‘old style’ bus shelters in North Ayrshire will be replaced through the £70,000 funding.

Where possible, raised kerbs and surfaced footways will be installed with plans to introduce a new bus service within the vicinity of the i3 Enterprise Area.

Proposals for 2017/18 are still to be developed and will be done within the council’s regeneration framework.

NAC say a list of proposed transport projects are likely to be the subject of external funding applications, which will be submitted to Cabinet for approval.

Executive Director Karen Yeomans (Economy and Communities) said: “We’re pleased with the funding package from SPT and I think it’s really important that the money is being used right across the region on projects we hope will make a big difference.

“The upgrades at the Hawkhill Roundabout and the Arran bus route on the A841 will improve journey times and the reliability of routes, while the rest of the money will also help us make important infrastructure improvements to improve bus travel across North Ayrshire.”

The improvements at Hawkhill Roundabout will look to address the difficulties of buses merging with other traffic.

This will improve public transport journey time, reliability and maintain the current level of service not only for Route 11 but all other bus services using the route.

The work on the A841 in Arran will include widening of sections of the carriageway to accommodate two-way flow of buses and other large vehicles together with reconstruction at key locations to improve journey reliability, particularly for bus operators.

The project is a continuation of the project previously approved by Cabinet.

In addition to these projects, SPT have already committed to providing £500,000 funding to support for improved bus interchange facilities in the area.

This is all part of the programme of improvement to Brodick Ferry Terminal.