TRANSFORMATION OF CITY CENTRE Pedestrianisation issue sidelined

It might not have been everyone’s vision of the transformation Aberdeen city centre needs so desperately, but the Marischal Square project did have some eye-catching features.

The pedestrianisation of Broad Street to make a traffic-free thoroughfare linking Marischal College with the mix of retail, office and hotel use was a fundamental element.

Now, the scheme has been torn in two at almost the last minute by the city’s Labour-led coalition, so that councillors need to vote only on the buildings next week. The pedestrianisation part of it has been detached for another day – if it goes ahead at all.

In some respects, some will see it as a watering down of a plan that is supposed to regenerate the city centre and capture the imagination, even if, for many, the overall project fell short of the truly spectacular.

On the other hand, many foresaw problems with closing Broad Street – a key link road and bus route. Fears over serious traffic congestion, raised by the council’s own roads expert, was an issue, as was opposition by some big businesses, which feared pedestrianisation could have an adverse effect on them.

Sidelining the Broad Street issue should speed it through, but we cannot sidestep the underlying issues which are holding Aberdeen back.

OVERCOMING ADVERSITY