After years of delays, Scotland’s transport minister will officially open the new road around Aberdeen’s notorious Haudagain roundabout on Monday.
The Haudagain Improvement Project has been in the works since plans were first proposed for a new road bypassing the roundabout in 2008.
Since then, the efforts to finally bring an end to Aberdeen’s most infamous traffic nightmare have been going round in circles, with numerous setbacks caused by all manner of factors.
From awaiting the completion of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) before works could start, to the planning stage, to the demolition of flats to make way for the works, it has indeed been a long and winding road.
Project was held up by pandemic, storms, and burst gas mains
Ground was initially broken on the site in 2017, and the initial completion date was at one point earmarked for spring 2021.
But all sorts of hold-ups, including Covid, burst gas mains and stormy weather resulted in the grand opening date being pushed back repeatedly.
Earlier this year when the already-delayed opening date of the end of March 2022 was missed, Scottish Government transport minister Jenny Gilruth said she hoped the new link road at the Haudagain would be open to traffic by mid-May 2022 “at the latest”.
What’s happening on Monday?
Today, Transport Scotland has confirmed Ms Gilruth will be travelling north to Aberdeen to officially open the new road to link the A92 North Anderson Drive and the A96 Auchmill Road on Monday, May 16.
Following Ms Gilruth’s visit and a ribbon-cutting ceremony, the road will open to traffic in the late morning/early afternoon.
It will mark a major milestone in the £50 million scheme to redesign Aberdeen’s most famous traffic bottleneck.
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