A major milestone in the construction of the long-awaited Aberdeen bypass has been reached with the announcement of the preferred bidder.
Transport minister Keith Brown revealed the selected contractor as Connect Roads – a consortium made up of Balfour Beatty, Morrison Construction and Carillion.
Mr Brown made the announcement just outside Portlethen this morning, where pre-commencement work is already underway.
Mr Brown said: “This is great news for the people of Aberdeen and the north-east and underlines our commitment to reversing years of under investment which has led to the kinds of pressures we see on the road network in and around Aberdeen every day.
“Over the next three decades, our investment in the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route project is expected to bring in an additional £6 billion to the local economy and create around 14,000 new jobs.
“During construction we would expect to see benefits similar in scale to the recently completed M74 scheme, which directly generated 900 construction jobs.
“It will also provide on-the-job training for apprentices and local employment opportunities.”
