Wee County plan for bridge name

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Councillors are set to give their backing to a campaign to name the new upper Forth crossing the "Clackmannanshire Bridge".

Clackmannanshire Council is due to meet later this week to voice approval for the name.

The Scottish Government will launch a public consultation on the naming of the new bridge later this month.

People in the area are being invited to choose a name along with those in Fife and Falkirk.

The £120m crossing is due to be completed by winter 2008.

'Priority destination'

Once suggestions have been sent to Transport Scotland a selection will be forwarded to ministers who will announce the name early next year.

On completion, the bridge deck will span 1.2km, weigh 35,000 tonnes and will sit on 25 piers - each filled with 840 tonnes of concrete.

In Fife a campaign to call the structure the "Kingdom Bridge" has also been launched.

Clackmannanshire Council believes naming the bridge after the area - Scotland's smallest mainland local authority, would boost the region's economy.

Business leaders and local dignitaries in the Wee County have already added their names to the campaign

Councillor Eddie Carrick is leading the local campaign.

He said: "As well as the economic case, I would also argue that there are geographic reasons for the new bridge to be called "Clackmannanshire Bridge".

"It will take traffic away from Fife while the Gartarry roundabout, here in Clackmannanshire, is the first entry and exit point on the north shore.

"It will land two miles away from Alloa town centre helping to make Alloa a priority destination for business and pleasure."