Union Street’s new bus gate will be up and running this week.
It will extend from the junction with Market Street to the junction with Union Terrace.
Earlier this year, Aberdeen City Council voted to reopen the Granite Mile in its entirety to buses and taxis.
Work has been ongoing since to achieve this, and soon the stretch between the junctions with Market Street and Union Terrace — which was pedestrianised during the pandemic — will once again be open to certain vehicles.
So when will the new bus gate be switched on?
Once the new bus gate is active, non-permitted vehicles will not be allowed, and anyone driving one through it could face a fine.
Bus drivers and cyclists will be able to go through either end of the gate without any penalties.
However, when it comes to taxi drivers, delivery vehicles and private hire vehicles, it’s a bit more complicated.
They will only have access to the restricted section of Union Street covered by the new bus gate if they go through Back Wynd.
They will then be able to exit out of Union Street at either end of the bus gate.
It is understood the new system will be officially up and running — with the rules being enforced — on Thursday, June 23.
What about the old bus gate?
Union Street’s other bus gate, which was installed between the entrance to McCombie’s Court and the junction with Market Street, was officially removed on June 13.
Where the bus gate once was, there is now a standard bus lane.
This means it is now possible to drive a car from King Street, west along Union Street, and then south down Market Street once again.
The former bus gate attracted a great deal of controversy after it was first installed in September 2020.
In the last 6 months of 2021, more than 42,000 drivers were fined for going through it.
Many argued the signage for it was not clear.
In fact, 91% in our poll of 1,293 readers said the signs for it weren’t clear enough.
The council eventually admitted that three of the signs were incorrect, because they were displaying the wrong distances, and fixed them.
So are the signs for the new bus gate any clearer?
Aberdeen City Council previously just used a simple blue circular sign, with an image of a bicycle, a bus and a taxi to signify the bus gate.
It also featured an image of a camera.
The local authority also had the word “Bus gate” written in large white letters on the road.
Sandra Macdonald, labour councillor, previously argued for using cash generated from fines from the old bus gate to be used in order to make the signage for it clearer.
The newly-installed signs for the bus gate now feature the same blue circle, but now only feature images of a bicycle and a local bus (as only local operators are permitted, and not for example sport or tourism coaches).
They also feature a picture of a camera, and text saying “Bus lane cameras”.
And on the roads leading to the bus gate, signs on the road itself says “Bus lane”, pointing towards the gate.
As of the afternoon of June 21, not all of the signs have been fully revealed yet ahead of the Thursday start date.
Do you think the signs for the new Union Street bus gate are clearer than the signs for the old one? Let us know in our comments section at the foot of this article
We’re looking for people who feel they have been unfairly penalised by the Union Street bus gate to speak out as part of our efforts to hold the council to account.
Would you like to help?
Email us at environmentandtransport@ajl.co.uk with your experience of being fined, and why you think it was unfair.
See more:
- Revealed: Top reasons Aberdeen City Council let drivers off with Union Street bus gate fines… and incorrect signage isn’t one of them
- Union Street bus gate blunder: Can I get my money back?
- David Knight: Aberdeen bus gate signage saga leaves a lingering sense of injustice
- You can click here to appeal your bus gate fine, or here to pay it here.
- Knowing Me, Knowing Union Street: The pedestrianisation saga so far
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