The A92 Aberdeen to Stonehaven road has now fully reopened three days after a crash at Bridge of Muchalls involving a bus and lorry.
The busy road was first shut shortly before 1pm on Monday and one lane still remained closed in both directions this morning.
Road management firm Amey says the collision resulted in a “significant” fuel spill across the surface.
Despite efforts to clear it in the hours following the crash, officials say the condition of the road had “deteriorated” after fuel seeped beneath the surface.
Why was the road closed for so long?
Amey said the affected section of the road needed to be completely resurfaced before it was safe to reopen again.
Repair works began on Tuesday night and involved resurfacing one lane on both the northbound and southbound carriageways.
It allowed one lane to open in each direction yesterday morning. The southbound lane reopened at about 6am with speed restrictions, and the northbound lane reopened shortly later.
Further works were carried out last night to complete the resurfacing on the second lane. The busy north-east route was expected to reopen around 9.30am – once the material cooled.
However, it wasn’t until 12 noon that the road was fully reopened, with all lanes running in both directions.
What happened at Bridge of Muchalls?
Emergency services were called to the scene on the A92 at Bridge of Muchalls just before 1pm on Monday.
The incident involved a green Flixbus on route to Aberdeen and a blue flat-bed lorry transporting a van and a pickup truck.
Fire crews deployed three appliances and a heavy rescue unit to the scene from Stonehaven and Aberdeen where they assisted police in making the area safe.
They remained on the scene before leaving at 3.45pm.
Stagecoach took to social media to warn of delays to bus services travelling to and from Aberdeen including the X7.
Delays of up to 70 minutes were reported at the Stonehaven bypass approaching the AWPR turn-off from both the south and the north due to the disruption.
At times, traffic was queueing past the A92 Dunnottar Castle road turn-off as vehicles were backed up from the AWPR roundabout.
On Tuesday evening, long queues were photographed heading off the AWPR in a southbound direction trying to get back on the A92.
‘Ridiculous that it’s still closed’
However, motorists took to social media on Tuesday to make their voices heard due to the length of time the repairs have been taking.
Maureen Buchan wrote on Facebook: “Ridiculous the time taken to clear a road, one car and a bus, as far as I’m aware no major injuries, why does everything have to go at snail’s pace?”
Sally Miller posted: “Ridiculous that it’s still closed!”
Whereas Andrew Macdonald thought the delay was normal. He commented: “I see there’s a few self-proclaimed experts in clearing a huge diesel spill here. Sounds like the diesel has damaged the tarmac so that’s the road needing resurfaced.
A police spokeswoman said: “We were called to a report of a two-vehicle crash involving a lorry and a bus on the A92 near Bridge of Muchalls around 2pm on Monday, May 1.
“Police attended to assist.”
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