The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Drivers face disruption during waterfront gigs
DUNDEE: Summer concerts will cause road closures and diversions in city
Drivers will be diverted miles around Dundee city centre during this summer’s series of Slessor Gardens concerts.
Three concerts have been arranged for Slessor Gardens on Dundee waterfront, with reggae band UB40 first to perform on May 20.
They will be followed by pop sensations Little Mix on June 29 and Olly Murs on July 20.
The concerts will bring thousands of fans into Dundee and are expected to deliver a major economic boost for the city centre.
But the logistics of staging such major events in the heart of the waterfront are likely to cause headaches for drivers.
Full details of the road closures and diversions that will be put in place during the gigs have been released by Dundee City Council for the first time.
The roads immediately around the concert arena at Slessor Gardens will be shut during the UB40 concert and similar closures are likely to be in force for the two later events.
But drivers approaching the Tay road bridge from Riverside Drive will be diverted up South Marketgait and forced to complete journeys around the city centre before reaching the bridge.
The diversions will be in place from 2.30pm until midnight on the day of the concert.
Although traffic is unlikely to be a major issue during the UB40 concert, which is yet to sell out and takes place on a Saturday afternoon, lengthy tailbacks are expected during the Little Mix and Olly Murs gigs, which both take place on Thursday nights.
It could mean rush-hour gridlock for commuters travelling to Fife from Dundee those nights.
Similar diversions were in place during last year’s Christmas Light Night event and it took drivers more than 45 minutes to negotiate the diversion at peak times.
A number of roads will be closed from the Wednesday before the UB40 concert until 6pm the following day.
Earl Grey Place East and West, South Crichton Street and South Castle Street will all be shut from May 17.
Castle Street South and Dock Street, between Whitehall Crescent and Commercial Street, will then be closed on the day of the concert.
It could mean rush-hour gridlock for commuters travelling to Fife from Dundee