Work to transform Aberdeen’s Union Street into a mecca for cyclists, traders and visitors begins today.
The stretch between Market Street and Bridge Street will be shut for months to come as diggers press in.
A large programme of roadworks has been planned for the 300-metre strip as part of multi-million-pound redesign plans to breathe new life into the high street.
Council chiefs say it will be the “biggest redevelopment” in the city centre for 200 years.
But the good news of the £20 million facelift come with a number of restrictions drivers, residents and traders will need to manoeuvre around during construction.
For ease, we’ve compiled a handy explainer on what the Union Street closure entails and how buses, cyclists, pedestrians and other city centre users will be affected.
Why is Aberdeen City Council closing Union Street?
The closure of central Union Street will allow a major revamp of the stretch between Market Street and Bridge Street.
In a nutshell, the scheme will widen pavements, reduce the road down to one lane each way and include segregated bike lanes.
This is the first section to be done up, with aspirations to eventually continue the bike lane all the way from the Castlegate to Holburn Junction.
During construction on the closed-off strip, work on the new £40m food and drink market at the former BHS building will also get under way.
Traffic restrictions will affect only the strip between Market Street and Bridge Street at this time.
A one-way lane will remain open for deliveries, bin collections and emergency services.
How long will the Union Street closure last?
The revamp of the market and central section of Union Street will be carried out in three 100-metre chunks and take about 20 months to complete.
First to be dug up is the area between Market Street and the entrance of St Nicholas Kirkyard.
Roads crews will then move on to the stretch from the kirkyard to Union Bridge, before completing the last strip leading up to the Bridge Street junction.
All goes well, the project is expected to be finished by December 2025.
What will happen to city centre buses?
All buses with stops at the closed-off section will be diverted for the duration of the works – similarly to how it was when central Union Street was pedestrianised.
New routes will go via Union Terrace, Schoolhill, Market Street, Guild Street and Bridge Street.
The 1, 1A, 1B, 2, 11, 11A, 17, 17A, 17K, 18, 18A, 19, 20, 23 and 172 First Aberdeen buses will be diverted.
Stagecoach’s 4, 5, 6, 6a, 7, 7B, X7, 201, 202, 218 routes will change too.
Major city centre parades such as the upcoming Grampian Pride will also be rerouted until at least November.
Are blue badge holders exempt from the new rules?
It is understood access to blue badge disabled parking spaces will not be disrupted.
And car drivers – already banished from the Market Street to Bridge Street stretch – will still be able to reach all city centre car parks.
And what about cyclists?
The redesign of the 300-metre stretch is all about making the city more bike-friendly.
However, cyclist are encouraged to avoid the area during construction – or in other words, for the next 20 months.
Instead, they are being asked to use parallel Schoolhill and Upperkirkgate – despite police concern about the number of motorists breaking the law there.
Technically, cyclists could use the single eastbound lane on Union Street, which will be left open at all time for deliveries and emergency vehicles during the roadworks.
But the council is urging them NOT to.
Bike users will be able to freely use the whole length of the high street once the full stretch has been completed.
What does the Union Street closure mean for city centre businesses?
City chiefs are stressing Union Street will still be very much “open for business”.
And they are strongly encouraging residents to still make use of all of the shops in the city centre.
Pedestrians will be allowed to pass through the closed-off stretch – even though they might be forced to whirl around dug up sections of the road.
What happens next?
Once the 300-metre strip is completed, council bosses will move to the next item on their long list of planned city centre upgrades.
They will, however, be scattered across the next several years.
The next one in the pipeline would be changing up the rest of Union Street, as well as the streets surrounding the new food and drink market.
Work on this is hoped to begin around October 2026, although it’s early to predict the exact timeline of the projects.
A new “welcome mat” for rail and bus passengers arriving at Union Square is also planned for spring 2025, with construction expected to take six months.
Read more about the multi-million-pound redesign of Union Street and what the closure would mean for city centre businesses and residents:
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