A historic street has been ripped up to become the “centrepiece” of the new, rejuvenated Aberdeen.
These dramatic images show how work on the pedestrianisation of Broad Street is moving forward, with the road now completely gone.
And last night, a leading business chief hailed the multimillion project saying it would create a focal point for the city centre – attracting events such as a Christmas market that will rival Edinburgh’s.
Adrian Watson, chief executive of Aberdeen Inspired, said: “This is just one part of the overall transformation of our city centre, and seeing spades on the ground at this site in the heart of the city shows that work has well and truly begun.”
Now that the tarmac has been dug up, the next stage of the £3.2million project is to install new Belmont Street style paving over the coming two months.
Further work will then commence, including the creation of water features, trees, benches, improvement lighting and a raised grass area in front of Marishcal College.
However, although work is now progressing, it is already running four months behind and will not be finished until November. Thereafter, the road will be open to pedestrians, cyclists and buses only.
The project is at the heart of the city’s masterplan, a 25-year blueprint to regenerate the centre.
Mr Watson said last night he was delighted with the progress, adding: “The masterplan has been agreed, and we’re now starting to see the delivery stage which naturally is what business organisations in the city centre would want to see, and we would like to see it delivered as soon as it can be.
“Once this work has been completed, Broad Street is quickly going to turn into one of the centrepieces of Aberdeen’s city centre.
“I have already been assured that the Christmas village is all set to move to Broad Street, and I think this will be a fantastic new home for our new yearly tradition.
“Set against the beautiful backdrop of Marischal College, it will certainly be quite a setting.
“It will give us the opportunity to really put on a show. In terms of scale it’s second only to the Christmas offering in Edinburgh, and Broad Street could help us to rival even that.
“But Christmas will be just one event, Broad Street will be a fantastic place for many future events that will be of huge benefit to the city, like the Great Aberdeen Run.
“We welcome this new phase of Broad Street with open arms.”
As part of the plans, the traffic lights at Upperkirkgate and Gallowgate will be removed and replaced with a shared surface for vehicles and a mini roundabout where pedestrians are given priority.
But Liberal Democrat group leader Ian Yuill said that the group still had concerns about safety and would like to see vehicles banned entirely.
He said: “Any space that is shared by buses, bikes and pedestrians is not pedestrianised.
“We have long had safety concerns, which are shared by the Disability Equity Partnership, about people using this street while buses and bikes are passing.
“But we are where we are and now we need to consider what to do going forward.”
SNP infrastructure spokesman Michael Hutchison said: “There was good support, both from the public and in the council chamber, for these plans and I’m sure people will be pleased to see the
work on Broad Street is finally getting under way.”
A council spokeswoman said: “The work on Broad Street, which will improve the streetscape and create an area capable of staging events throughout the year, is part of the city centre
masterplan.
“The cost of the work is being covered by the City Centre Masterplan budget, Marischal Square developer Muse, and Sustrans Scotland.”