Hundreds of motorists were held up on one of Aberdeen’s busiest commuter routes yesterday after a crash at a notorious junction.
Rush-hour traffic was gridlocked along Auchmill Road following a crash involving a lorry and a car at the Haudagain roundabout.
The front wheel of a silver Ford Focus came off as a result of the collision at about 8.45am.
The car blocked the outside city-bound lane opposite Maplin until 10.15am, causing lengthy tailbacks.
A police spokesman said no one was injured.
The Haudagain roundabout has long been described as one of the “worst” in the United Kingdom for congestion.
There have also been several accidents at the junction. In one of the most recent incidents in February, a woman was taken to hospital after two cars were involved in a crash at the bottleneck. Just a few weeks prior, a lane at North Anderson Drive was blocked off when two vehicles collided near the roundabout.
The Scottish Government has said that design options for a long-awaited upgrade at the junction will be presented to local residents in the Middlefield area later this month. About 120 houses will have to be bulldozed to make way for a new link road connecting North Anderson Drive with Auchmill Road. The works are due to start after completion of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR), which is scheduled to be in spring 2018.
Congestion yesterday was made worse due to the ongoing closure of nearby Mugiemoss Road, a popular route for drivers looking to avoid the Haudagain.
The road was closed on March 16 for a period of four months to allow for works relating to a Barratt housing development in the area.