Exactly one year ago today, on October 12, 2021, Glaisnock Street closed at its junction with Townhead street due to a 'collapsed wall'.
Since then, the road has never fully reopened to traffic, with a one-way system in operation and plans to refurbish the adjacent problem building in the pipeline.
Here's a short timeline on how things have gone since the road was last fully operational.
October 2021
The street was shut off fully to pedestrians and traffic.
East Ayrshire Council said part of the wall of the adjacent pub building had become unstable during demolition works on the neighbouring building, with part of the wall falling on the footpath and road.
November 2021
Six weeks later, a one-way system was placed in operation, allowing cars to drive from Townhead Street towards Glaisnock Street and Ayr Road, but not in the opposite direction.
At that time, shop owners were told it would be the end of January 2022 before the road would fully reopen.
January 2022
By the middle of January, council bosses had said that road would remain one-way for a "few more months".
This was due to safety work being carried out.
David Mitchell, chief governance officer said at the time: "We continue to engage with all relevant parties to try and progress this to a permanent and acceptable outcome.”
February 2022
A Temporary Traffic Regulation Order (TTRO) was placed on the street until April 4, 2022, meaning it would remain one-way.
Not stopping there, officials said that the TTRO would have to extended beyond that point, because work was not scheduled to start on the faulty building until the next month.
By this point, residents were becoming restless with the time taken to solve the issue.
One woman said: "Only East Ayrshire Council could take this long to reopen a road that has been closed for this length of time, and without any progress being made".
April 4, 2022
Fast-forwarding to April, the TTRO was then extended until at least September.
East Ayrshire Council had said that "due to the technical complexity and multiple ownership of the buildings/site it is likely that will need to remain in place for a few more months to facilitate the identification and delivery of a suitable solution."
April 13, 2022
The following week, East Ayrshire Council said that the issues and extended closure were caused by the “technical complexity of the site”.
Tracking down the owner of the adjacent pub building was proving to be an issue for council bosses.
They said: “The Council requires more time to facilitate the identification and delivery of a suitable solution and will continue to engage with all relevant parties to try and progress to a permanent and acceptable outcome.”
June 2022
More owner issues cropped up for the council, as they revealed that no official owner resided at 18 Glaisnock Street, which was delaying the reopening of the partially closed part of the road.
A Freedom Of Information (FOI) request from the Chronicle to East Ayrshire Council sought to find what issues were causing the delays, and what work is still to be carried out.
The FOI revealed: “The council’s legal services section has been in dialogue with solicitors acting for the bank who hold security over the property however there has been no confirmation from the bank that they wish to call in that security.
“An intrusive survey is to be carried out week commencing June 6 to give a clearer idea as to the condition of No. 18 and in particular the front façade.”
August 2022
A breakthrough was made in August, when the decision was taken to carry out work on the striken building and return it to a saleable condition.
The decision was taken for Cabinet to fund the £107,000 worth of works to return the building to a safe condition.
Despite an agreement being reached on the building's future, it was revealed that it would still be some time before the road was fully reopened.
It was said that works will be undertaken on the property with a timescale of three to four months, including appointment of a main contractor.
September 2022
Last month, there more bad news for drivers in this seemingly never-ending saga, as the most recent update was provided.
The road closure order for Glaisnock Street was extended until May 2023.
The latest order came into effect from 00:01 hrs on Saturday 1 October and the restrictions are expected to remain in place until 23rd May 2023 and will be implemented only when the appropriate signs are displayed.
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