A segregated bike lane is to be built along the length of Union Street after claims cycling the central stretch felt like “fleeing Terminator”.
Roads officials were sent back to the drawing board to reimagine their plans after impassioned pleas from cycling lobbyists in December.
New images have now been released showing the segregated bike lanes between Market Street and Bridge Street.
And planners say they will tie in with bike lanes further up and down the Granite Mile to provide a single, continuous link along its entire length.
Previously planned bus laybys on Union Street central have been scrapped to make space for the three-metre bike lane.
Public transport will now stop kerbside for pick up and drop off in the closed-off stretch.
Union Street’s wide pavements will be reduced down to 3.3 metres at their narrowest, with crossings for pedestrians to navigate the bike lane.
Segregated Union Street bike lane included in £20m refurb
And now the SNP and Lib Dems running the council have committed to having the full-length bike lane installed.
They have already scrapped the pedestrianisation of the area, which is the busiest part of Union Street.
Instead, only buses and taxis are allowed access.
But cyclists slammed the lack of dedicated space for them on the city’s main thoroughfare.
Cyclists’ wake up call for city councillors
“When I ride my bike on Union Street, I feel like the kid from the film Terminator 2,” Aberdeen Cycle Forum spokeswoman Rachel Martin told councillors at the end of last year.
“There is a scene where he’s on his motorbike and being pursued by a terminator in a lorry, right behind him.
“It’s frightening and intimidating to have a large vehicle right behind you when you’re on a bike. And indeed, on my way to this meeting on Union Street, I found myself wedged between two buses.”
Input from campaigners proved a wake up call for councillors, who ordered the rethink to look at protecting cyclists as part of the £20m Union Street revamp.
SNP and Lib Dems will vote for segregated Union Street bike lane
Finance convener Alex McLellan said: “There is a real need to reimagine Union Street, and the wider city centre.
“That is exactly why we are driving forward with creating better public spaces, much needed segregated cycle lanes, as well as improved bus stops.”
Roads planners have drawn input from the Aberdeen Cycle Forum, the Disability Equity Partnership and bus firms in drawing up the revised plans.
Lib Dem council co-leader Ian Yuill added the segregated bike lanes would put a “commitment to make Aberdeen’s roads safer for cyclists into action”.
