A city councillor has come under fire for his support of a controversial bridge proposal.
There are three options on the table for a new crossing over the River Dee, including a link between Garthdee Road and the A90 Aberdeen-Dundee route.
Torry and Ferryhill councillor Alan Donnelly has backed this option, while the SNP has supported a bridge next to the existing structure.
But a nearby community centre has claimed Mr Donnelly’s preference will cause “chaos” on the nearby roads.
Inchgarth Community Centre chairman, Paul O’Connor, has now written an open letter to the Tory member.
And he stated: “Councillor Donnelly, we shall not sugar coat this, such a development will result in chaos to our community on multiple levels, and while 70% of our customer base is from the locality, 30% of our users travel from all over the city to access our vital services – such as those with disabilities, mental health problems and the elderly.
“As such, it will affect our business, service provision and the ability of some of the most vulnerable people in Aberdeen to access core vital services. Let us not forget the monumental safety issues.”
Mr O’Connor argued Mr Donnelly had “tunnel vision” over the proposal.
He added: “It seems you are pushing for this unacceptable proposal against a tide of strong public, organisational, and common sense objection, but with no substance or rationale to back up your case.”
However, Mr Donnelly stressed last night he was only expressing his opinion on the issue, and any decision would be a “collective” one.
He said: “This is something that could be years away, we waited 56 years for the Third Don Crossing. I have expressed an opinion as a resident and as a councillor, party politics don’t come into it.
“Who’s to say there’s even a need for this [bridge] if the western peripheral route takes the traffic away from South Anderson Drive?
“What he [Mr O’Connor] needs to do is canvas the opinion of all councillors, of our roads officers and our planning officers, because this is a collective decision that will be taken.”
