£745m Aberdeen bypass moves closer as seven-mile stretch opens to motorists
The long-awaited Aberdeen bypass will take a step closer to completion with the opening of the most northern stretch of the £745 million road tomorrow.
The seven-mile road from Balmedie to Tipperty, representing about a fifth of the total route, will be the second stretch to start taking traffic.
The road was initially scheduled for completion in spring this year, but the collapse of builders Carillion was among the problems that pushed it back initially to the summer, then to the autumn.
The 4.3-mile section of the bypass between Parkhill and Blackdog opened recently.
Transportsecretarymichael Matheson said: “We said we would open new sections of road as soon as they were ready for traffic and we are delivering on that commitment.
“This will be very welcome news to the local community, road users and businesses who have been so patient while these works have been ongoing. We thank them for their continued support.
“Every day tens of thousands of drivers will now begin to reap the benefits of this section of new road, which was originally a separate project to the AWPR (Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route), through enhanced safety, reduced congestion, improved journey time reliability and safer access to local areas and the wider public network.
“The full benefits of this huge project will be realised when the AWPR/B-T opens in late autumn 2018.
“Our investment in this project is expected to bring in an additional £6 billion to the north-east economy and create around 14,000 jobs over the next 30 years.”
All remaining cones on the new section of road will be removed and the national speed limit returned on this section of the A90, with reduced speed limits in place on slip roads.
Construction works will continue on some side roads and access roads.
Temporary lanes and road space were among the measures used in construction to minimise disruption.
The new stretch includes three junctions, approximately 5.5 miles of dual carriageway between Balmedie and Bridgend, as well as two miles of improvements to the dual carriageway between Blackdog and Balmedie.
Aberdeen City Council coleader Jenny Laing said it was a “significant step” for the scheme.
“We believe it will bring huge benefits to Aberdeen by enabling faster journey times for commuters and help us to unlock the economic potential of the wider north-east region,” she added.
Aberdeenshire councillor Jim Gifford said the opening of the road was “very pleasing.
“As well as improving access to communities along the A90, the development brings some welcome additional capacity on what is an important route for commuting and business traffic,” he said.
“It also brings us a step closer to the conclusion of the AWPR/B-T project and it is now even easier to visualise how the development will improve access and journey times across the north-east.”