A major bus firm has called on councillors to put the brakes on any moves to ban the vehicles from a city centre street.
Councillors will again today debate the future of Broad Street for after it’s £3.2million pedestrianisation project is complete in the coming months.
It is envisaged that when finished the street will only be open to buses, bikes and pedestrians.
But a motion from Liberal Democrat Steve Delaney will be debated at today’s full council meeting calling for a full vehicle ban.
Mr Delaney has raised safety concerns for pedestrians, particularly disabled people, on the street if it is open to any traffic.
But last night Stagecoach managing director Mark Whitelocks said that it would be those with visual or other impairments that could suffer should buses not be able to get there.
First Bus has also previously raised concerns about the potential vehicle ban.
He said: “We are committed to attracting more people to travel by bus in the city centre and our award-winning Jet 727 service needs to be able to serve the many local businesses around the Broad Street area.
“People with mobility issues or visual impairments rely on our fully accessible fleet of buses to connect them to key areas of Aberdeen city, such as Broad Street, and the proposition of taking buses away from this area will only make the area less accessible for anyone visiting, not just those with mobility issues.”
Mr Delaney said, “We really need to put public safety at the heart of everything we do. We need to take into account the needs of people with disabilities in all new projects within our city centre. We need to make our city centre more pedestrian friendly and more accessible to everyone, so where better to start than Broad Street.
“People with hearing loss may not hear buses approaching and those with restricted mobility may find themselves lacking the confidence to cross quickly enough or safely enough. This includes people who need to use walking aids or wheelchairs as well as those with progressive conditions which affect their mobility.”
