The preferred route for the £395M Aberdeen bypass has been narrowed down, it was announced by Scottish transport minister Tavish Scott, this week.
Scott confirmed and narrowed the preferred line of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, revealing 18 homes and an international school will be demolished in order to build the 46km road.
The decision means that blight has been lifted from 17 further homes which were also in the previous, wider corridor announced in December. Scott said: ‘I am very aware of the understandable concerns caused by the width of the corridor being looked at, and the time taken to narrow this down. However, it was important to examine all the options to help us identify a line that had as little impact as possible on people’s homes, communities and the environment.’
The Scottish Executive claims that the route proposed would take an estimated 43,000 vehicles off unsuitable city and rural roads. The greater clarity over the route was welcomed by Aberdeen city and Aberdeenshire councils, and the freight industry, which has called for the bypass for four decades. FTA head of policy Gavin Scott said: ‘A growing economy requires a roads network up to the job. We look forward to the project going ahead.’
The next stage will be to develop the line further by carrying out detailed ground and site investigation work to allow the draft orders to be published at the end of the year.