Heavy traffic jams have formed following the controversial closure of the straight-ahead lane onto Guild Street today.
Earlier today, Aberdeen City Council shut the route which previously allowed motorists to drive from Trinity Quay, south-west onto Guild Street and onwards.
Traffic cones have been used to block off the lane.
The change means drivers travelling south-west along Trinity Quay now have no choice but to turn left down Market Street towards Torry.
Lengthy queues have been reported around the junction near the now-closed lane in the city centre, which is currently busy with Christmas shoppers.
Where exactly are the problems around the now-shut Guild Street straight ahead lane today?
Traffic has been backed up north-east along Trinity Quay, as well as Regent Quay and Virginia Street this afternoon.
There has also been congestion along Market Street for those travelling south of the junction with Trinity Quay and Guild Street.
Why has the Guild Street lane been closed by the council?
The council decided to close off the straight-ahead lane onto Guild Street in order to create a bus priority route, as part of a range of upcoming road changes.
These changes also include three more bus gates being installed in the future — at the top of Market Street, the east side of Guild Street, and the top of Bridge Street.
Aberdeen City Council aims to reduce the amount of traffic going through the area by stopping the public using Bridge Street, Guild Street (east of Wapping Street) and Market Street (north of Guild Street) as through-routes.
This new bus priority route was agreed at a full meeting of the council in June this year.
But, the changes are being brought about through what is called an “experimental traffic regulation order”, a method which Transport Scotland claims is “very rarely used”.
Public anger over Guild Street changes
Last week, we highlighted the public’s feelings over the Guild Street changes which came into force today, and they were far from happy.
One of our readers said: “Already put off going into Aberdeen with silly road closures and ridiculous one way or closed-off streets… not great timing either on the run-up to Christmas.
“Who thinks this through”?
Why didn’t the council consult the wider public on this?
Last month we revealed the council launched the roads experiment with no further public consultation, after allowing only a few select organisations to have their say, including the emergency services.
At the time, a spokeswoman said “public engagement will commence once the scheme has been brought into operation”.
Once the bus priority route is in place, the council said access to properties, businesses and the Trinity Centre car park will be maintained via the Denburn and South College Street routes.
More bus gates, right-turn bans and pedestrianised areas
A raft of major changes to how we get about in the city centre are due to come into force very soon.
A spokesman for the city council said it’s expected the new road layout around the Guild Street area will “come into operation next month, weather depending, and there will be updates for the timescale to the public in the new year”.
Read all about the upcoming changes here.
Conversation