Transport bosses have come under fire for closing a main road that passes a new primary school – just a week after it opened.
Uryside School, in Inverurie, opened to pupils for the first time yesterday after the school holidays.
But the same day as classes began, Aberdeenshire Council announced it planned to close the B9170 Inverurie to Oldmeldrum road for two weeks.
The busy route will be closed to allow roads workers to carry out maintenance and repairs ahead of the winter season.
It means motorists face a 10 mile diversion to get to either the town or the village on either side of the works.
However some in the community have raised questions about the decision to carry out the repairs after the school holidays.
Fiona Peebles, vice-chairwoman of Inverurie Community Council, said: “The council knew the school was opening this week, I can’t understand why they didn’t do it during the holidays.
“That means parents are going to have to make that big journey if they are driving their children to school.
“They have had months to do these roadworks, there should have been some joined-up thinking here.”
But local councillor Neil Baillie said the authority had been faced with a number of repairs in the local area which had to be prioritised ahead of these works.
He said: “It’s unfortunate timing and it will be an inconvenience but hopefully that will be kept to a minimum and the work will be carried out as quickly as possible.”
The council confirmed there may be some disruption to school bus services and to other traffic.
A spokesman said: “Access will be provided for emergency vehicles and vehicles requiring access to properties but may be subject to delay until the road is cleared to allow safe passage.
“We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this closure.”
Uryside has replaced Market Place Primary, which closed earlier this month after serving the area since 1863.
