Busy Queensgate road in Glenrothes faces closure

The estate, which houses McDonald’s and ASDA, is routinely congested in the evening rush hour, with queues often spilling onto the main road, blocking passing traffic.

It is feared the work may exacerbate the present issues, especially at the peak time of use between 5pm and 7pm.

Cllr Altany Craik, Labour representative for Glenrothes West and Kinglassie, said: “McDonald’s worries me in terms of traffic. It takes a while for people to cotton on, it could be a disaster.”

However, councillors were assured that signs had been put in place and that it was business as usual for the surrounding businesses.

Councillors were also assured that there was scope for weekend and evening work, should they begin to run behind schedule on the programme which involves the construction of a district heating network and back up energy centre.

This will supply sustainable low carbon heat to a mix of industrial, commercial, community and domestic properties in the centre of Glenrothes, as well as to the Fife House complex and other corporate buildings.

The scheme will aid economic regeneration and new business investment in central Glenrothes, creating opportunity for future phases of the network.

At present there are more than 10 hectares of employment and town centre land available for development within connection distance of the proposed District Heating scheme.

This includes the former Tullis Russell site which it is intended will become a large scale mixed use development.