An Inverurie councillor has warned of “10 to 20” years of traffic misery as the town expands faster than the A96 dualling project progresses.
Transport Scotland has committed to turning dualling the Inverurie-Inverness road by 2030, following a series of consultation in the north-east earlier this year.
Four potential options were presented by engineering firm Jacobs, but a decision on which one will be adopted is yet to be announced.
And yesterday, local councillor Richard Cowling said the team must make improvements to the east of Inverurie to cope with the growing amount of traffic created by new housing developments.
Among the options under consideration is the creation of a dual carriageway between Blackburn to Huntly, cutting across land close to Bennachie. This would be to the west of Inverurie.
Another option suggests a series of improvements to the current dual carriageway, including building a road which bypasses the Inverurie town to the east.
Mr Cowling believes any improvements to the A96 must pass to the east of the town centre to cope with the traffic travelling from Rothienorman and Oldmeldrum, which is expected to rise due to the number of houses being built in the area.
He said: “Inverurie is really awaiting A96 bypass. That really has to go to the eastern side, there can be no doubt about that – it takes the through traffic that is of no benefit to Inverurie out of the town.
“It has to be the eastern side, the western side wouldn’t benefit Inverurie at all.
“Inverurie traffic irrespective will only get worse, the northern link road will not help Inverurie traffic flow at all.”
He added he hoped improvements to the rail link between Aberdeen and Inverurie, including the reintroduction of Kintore Railway Station, would take some of the traffic pressure from the town centre.
Mr Cowling said: “If the dual carriageway goes to the east of the town that Rothienorman traffic will go up to the A96. What we have heard is it is all supposed to be completed by 2030.
“There is nothing in place to detract from that until we get something. We have got 10 to 20 years to get through and nothing positive is happening.”
A Transport Scotland spokeswoman said: “The Scottish Government has given a commitment to completing the dualling of the A96 between Inverness and Aberdeen by 2030.
“We are progressing with the programme to meet this ambitious target and have recently completed preliminary engineering and environmental assessment work along the route and this was presented to the public at a series of exhibitions held in May.
“A timetable has been published for the next stage of design with route options assessment work to commence next year.
“Construction work on the Inveramsay Bridge Improvements Project is well underway and on track for completion in Spring 2016.”
