New city bypass needed to boost economy

Madam, – The Monday Matters column by deputy editor Graham Huband is most interesting and timely (Is the Kingsway for another 100 years, Courier, July 22).

In it he refers to the proposal for a bypass from the A90 west of the Swallow roundabout to near Tealing in order to relieve congestion and air pollution on Kingsway, and to allow through traffic to have an easier and quicker route past Dundee.

Dundee Civic Trust fully supports such a proposal, which, of course, has been mooted for a couple of decades at least.

We would like to see it being given much higher priority in plans by Transport Scotland and in future strategic plans including the updated TayPlan and the next revision of the Local Development Plan.

The effects of congestion, delays and pollution on Kingsway itself are evident and may well have been measured.

The traffic impact also spreads to neighbouring communities due to traffic using quieter streets as rat runs.

Of course, there must also be significant impact on the local economy due to delays, and indeed on the economies of nearby regions as well.

There have been a few incremental ‘improvements’ using traffic lights and creating filter lanes at some junctions, but these largely cosmetic solutions can only at best slightly ameliorate the problems.

They remove no traffic and may even add to the delays, congestion and pollution.

The proper, long term solution is a northern/ western relief road which would remove all A90 traffic heading west and south of the city, most notably traffic from the Aberdeen area and obviously, traffic which is travelling north towards those areas as well.

Traffic which moves smoothly causes less air pollution than when it is travelling slowly and, worse, stopped.

A new bypass for the city would allow Kingsway to be downgraded to a major local road and would reduce the significant barrier that exists between communities to the north and south of Kingsway.

It surely would also be widely welcomed by business and communities in the Aberdeen area and the rest of the north-east of Scotland.

I shall be glad to learn what steps Dundee City Council may be able to take which might allow this much needed improvement to come to pass. Donald Gordon. Chairman, Dundee Civic Trust.