New delay postpones Aberdeen bypass until ‘at least’ next month

The Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route will not now fully open until next month at the earliest, in a further delay to the project’s completion.

However, transport secretary Michael Matheson told MSPS he could not give a “definitive date” because of a dispute with builders Aberdeen Roads Limited (ARL).

The latest setback to the 36-mile road, which should have been finished last winter, was blamed on problems with concrete panels on a new bridge over the River Don.

The £745 million project has been put back several times, and was latterly to be finished in “late autumn”.

Northern sections opened this year between Craibstone and Dyce, Blackdog and Parkhill, and Balmedie and Tipperty.

But the rest of the bypass between Craibstone, near Aberdeen airport, and Stonehaven, has yet to take traffic. A new link section to Charleston, on the southern outskirts of Aberdeen, is also not open.

Mr Matheson said: “Last Friday, Transport Scotland was informed a greater scope of work would be necessary to repair the [bridge] defects.

“They are working hard to repair the defects, and on Monday, the contractor reported it was targeting a December opening date for the whole road.”

However, he added that ARL “were unable to provide a definitive date for the opening of this section as there are a number of factors which could influence this date, including technical issues and other physical factors, such as the weather”.

Mr Matheson said: “We will continue to work closely with ARL to ensure everything that can reasonably be done, is being done, and we will provide a definitive date for the opening of this section as soon as possible.”

He said he was “disappointed” at the progress of talks to open the near 20-mile stretch between Craibstone, Stonehaven and Charleston, which requires a contract variation.

North East Labour MSP Lewis Macdonald said: “It is clear from the transport secretary’s statement the 20 miles of the AWPR between Craibstone and Stonehaven could be open on Monday morning.

“The only reason that stretch remains closed is a contractual dispute between the Scottish Government and ARL.

“Hundreds of millions of pounds of public money have been spent on this project, and it is unacceptable the public are being prevented from using such a large part of this road simply because of a badly-drafted contract.”

North East Conservative MSP Liam Kerr said management of the project had been a “disgrace”.