The study, which focuses on active travel and public transport connections, continues the ongoing work of Aberdeen City Council and partners to consider means of locking-in benefits of the city bypass (AWPR) on the principal transport corridors linking Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen.

The study area will place a particular focus on how to improve conditions for pedestrians, wheelchair users, cyclists, and public transport users of the route for movements around the city centre.

Key aims are to identify options which:

• Improve the quality of the pedestrian and cycling experience along the corridor and address the barriers which affect some groups moving around as a pedestrian or cyclist;
• Improve the quality of bus travel in the corridor for all users, enhancing the travel experience both for current bus users and to attract new users by reducing bus journey times, improving service punctuality, and narrowing the gap between bus and car-based journey times;
• Managing the impact on general traffic to minimise undesirable re-routeing.

Several end-to-end corridor options have been developed to meet the study objectives following problems and opportunities earlier identified on the A96 corridor. These are presented in an online Story Map exercise as part of the consultation, and similar exercises have been held recently for other corridors, including the A92, the A944, A93, and A947.

Aberdeen City Council transport spokesperson Councillor Sandra Macdonald said: “Those who travel the route between Aberdeen and Inverurie and residents in all local areas lining the route should make their views known as part of this study.

“I very much welcome the start of a process to identify options to improve transport connections on the A96, alongside those for the A92, the A944, A93 and A947. This work is all part and parcel of the continuing work to lock-in the benefits of the AWPR in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.”

The consultation is part of the Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG)-based study to identify options for the corridor. Stantec has been commissioned to undertake this study by Aberdeen City Council through the Scottish Bus Partnership Fund.

In line with the objective-led approach afforded by STAG, the study recognises development aspirations and pressures in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire and will capitalise on several pieces of work undertaken by the City Council and partners along this corridor in recent years. The outcomes of the study will be used to help shape an outline business case development for deliverable options and potential progression to design and implementation in the future.  

The consultation is open for responses until March 20.