Motorists in Aberdeen will soon be unable to go straight ahead onto Guild Street as part of a major revamp.
Work will begin on a new layout next week – banning cars from going straight ahead from Trinity Quay on Guild Street.
The changes are being made to create a bus priority route.
Three further bus gates are also to be installed in the area – at the top of Market Street, the east side of Guild Street and the top of Bridge Street.
Aberdeen City Council expect work to change the layout of Guild Street will take a day-and-a-half to complete, beginning on Monday.
A section of the road will be closed while the work is carried out.
It comes after The Press and Journal revealed last week that the council was pushing on with the project before any public consultation is held.
City traders have railed against the planned upheaval, which could be in place for a full 18 months while it is tested out.
Depending on the weather, the new road layout will come into full operation in January although a date has not yet been confirmed.
Minimising traffic
The bus priority route will minimise the amount of traffic on Bridge Street, Guild Street and Market Street by stopping motorists from using them as through-routes.
Access to properties, businesses and the Trinity Centre car park will be maintained and motorists will be able to access the area via the Denburn and South College Street when the bus priority is in use.
In a further attempt to reduce traffic in the city centre, three bus gates are being created on the top of Market Street, the east side of Guild Street and the top of Bridge Street.
As part of the works, the bus gate on the east side of Union Street is being moved to the front of the Adelphi.
Bus gates
The original Union Street bus gate, from the top of Market Street to the turn-off with Adelphi, caused repeated complaints from motorists right from the start – with may complaining the layout was not well signposted and did not provide an alternative route.
The city council eventually admitted three of its signs were incorrect, and they were replaced earlier this year. More than 73,000 fines were issued in 11 of the 22 months the gate was in place – the equivalent of 213 a day.
That bus gate was removed in June after councillors voted to reopen Union Street in its entirety to buses and taxis. The existing one is now between Bridge Street and Market Street.
This latest revamp will bring that further down to the Adelphi.
There will also be a ban on turning right from Union Terrace to Rosemount Viaduct – except for buses, taxis and cyclists – and Schoolhill will be pedestrianised from Back Wynd to Flourmill Lane.
The bus priority route was agreed at a meeting of the full council in June.
