Plea to commuters ahead of work to A9's Kessock Bridge
Transport Scotland has asked commuters to reduce car journeys on the Kessock Bridge during the final phase of the crossing's £13.2m upgrade.
The bridge at Inverness will be cut from four to two lanes with a contra flow system for 20 weeks from 10 February.
During a phase of the project last year, 1,000 fewer cars used the crossing.
Commuters have again been asked to switch to public transport.
Transport Scotland said the last round of work to refurbish the crossing could add an hour to journey times.
It said extra capacity would be available on public transport and additional parking opened up at Ross County FC's stadium in Dingwall and at Beauly railway station.
People have also been urged to car share.
A Transport Scotland spokesman said: "The upgraded Kessock Bridge will give the people of Inverness a state of the art crossing when it is completed in a few months' time and we are asking people to bear with us until then.
"We know the new bridge improvements will be worth the wait and the materials and techniques that we are using mean that the crossing will remain free of major repairs for the next 30 years."
The spokesman added: "A real effort was made by all to keep delays to a minimum during the first phase of the refurbishment and almost a thousand less cars used the bridge at peak times. This cut the forecast delays of an hour by 15 minutes."