The bulldozers will roll in and trees will be felled as work on Perth’s controversial Cross Tay Link Road gets started.
Preparatory ground clearance work for Perth and Kinross Council’s £118 million roads building project will begin next week.
Construction is scheduled to start this summer.
Opponents to the scheme fear it will have a devastating impact on the countryside.
But council leader Murray Lyle maintains it will deliver “major benefits”.
He said: “The Cross Tay Link Road is an important part of delivering on our ambitions for Perth city and the wider region.
“On completion it will deliver major benefits for residents through reduced pollution and carbon output.”
What work is going ahead?
Surrey-headquartered civil engineers BAM Nuttall were appointed contractors for the Cross Tay Link Road (CTLR) last year.
Next week, workers will start to cut down trees and clear areas of ground along the route.
This phase of the work will continue until March.
Trees are being felled before the start of the bird nesting season.
Contractors will also carry out archaeological investigations.
The link will include a bridge over the Tay north of Scone. It will involve building 3.7 miles of new road linking the A9 and the A94.
A number of core paths will need to be blocked off in order for the work to go ahead.
There has been opposition to this from groups including Ramblers Scotland and Scottish Rights of Way and Access Society (ScotWays).
As a result, core paths orders are being considered by the Scottish Government’s Planning and Environmental Appeals Division.
A PKC spokesperson said access to all of the core paths affected would be maintained during the preparatory work.
However there would be “minimal diversions put in place only as far as necessary for the safety for path users during tree felling activity”.
Why build the Cross Tay Link Road?
PKC bosses say the link will unlock key development land to the north of the city as well as redirecting unnecessary traffic from the city centre.
They say it will reduce congestion and air pollution within the city.
The link will also have a cycle path set back from the carriageway running alongside its route.
But the link has been strongly opposed by some communities.
Residents in Rait fear the single track road running past their village could be turned into a rat run.
And Scone residents had called for the road to be built further away from a proposed new school and housing.
BAM Nuttall project director William Diver said: “This first stage of preparation marks the start of a major project to deliver infrastructure that will significantly improve traffic flows in Perthshire.”
