DRIVERS who nip off the M90 and back on again to avoid Queensferry Crossing queues could soon be stopped in their tracks.

Traffic chiefs are looking at ways of allaying re-occurring delays on the bridge and admitted that tinkering with the lights could be a way to deal with the additional issue of people coming on and off the busy route.

Members of Fife Council's South and West Fife area committee were given an update from Transport Scotland, Bear Scotland and Amey at their meeting last week.

Committee convener Alice McGarry said they were given an update on efforts to try to alleviate the build-up of traffic, especially at peak times.

"As far as I could grasp from the limited amount of knowledge of that sort of thing, it is one of these things that there isn't a definite solution," she said.

"They may look at lights timings on the slip roads. One of the issues is that when the road gets congested, folk go up off the A90 and come back up the slip road at Ferrytoll."

Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay councillor David Coleman said he feared the situation was worsening.

"Can we actually solve this or are we tweaking lights etc, doing all this wonderful stuff but will we ever solve the issue at peak times or are we just going to put our hands up and say this is it, this is the way it is going to be?" he asked.

"I am just concerned that we have what I would call a critical problem, not with the bridge but with the traffic flows. You are doing tweaks but it's whether they can be tweaked enough to make it work."

Tommy Deans, from Bear Scotland, said improvements on the integrated traffic signal systems were on the way which would lead to further improvements.

"I don't think it is impossible and there are certain things we can try – I don't think we can give up," he said. "I don't think I can say at this moment in time there is an answer right now.

"Get one thing sorted and look at the next problem. There are some ways we can dissuade people from using slip roads like holding people on red lights. I would not be despondent about it. I think we can find solutions."

Graeme Paget, from Transport Scotland, said the issue of drivers using slip roads to cut queues was an ongoing one.

"It is inappropriate driver behaviour," he said. "They end up making the queue longer. There is not an easy solution. It annoys us as well when we see it."