Plans for a new £55m road which will ease congestion around the Straiton Junction in Midlothian have been lodged with the council’s planners.

The A701 relief road is expected to take around 9,000 vehicles off the main route every day and could boost the local economy by £189m.

Midlothian Council has included the new route, which will take vehicles from Straiton Junction west before linking to the A702, as well as providing a link to Seafield Moor Road (the A703), in its Local Development Plan.

It is unclear where the funds for the road will come from, after the local authority revealed the cost had spiralled from an initial £22m three years ago.

A spokesperson for the council said that, funding permitting, it could be up and running by 2028 – adding funding was available for initial ph

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