And another fatality

[PaulCumbria]

I know it's a silly question, but with a 7% reduction in car traffic in town, this'll be a massive opportunity to reallocate space to sustainable modes - any plans for pedestrianisation, prestigious new cycle lanes etc. in town?

[The Mechanic]

I wouldn't call 7% "massive". They have been taking about pedestrianising part of Union Street, the main thoroughfare in Aberdeen, but the last time they mooted it, most people complained as there didn't seem to be any where else for the traffic to go. Instead, they built a new shopping centre on the already busiest street in the town, Market Street. Note that, whilst Union Street is the main drag, it is not the main route through the town that the AWPR is supposed to relieve. That is mainly Anderson Drive and the Market Street-Great Northern Road route, plus loads of tiny country lanes that are currently used by everything from commuters to 45 tonne artics.

Aberdeen has a dual carriageway coming into it from the south (A90) and the same going through the western side of the town (Anderson Drive). However, in between is a single carriageway, width restricted bridge. Heavy goods vehicles are diverted through a residential area to get back onto the dual carriageway at the other side of the bridge. A few years ago, they had the opportunity to build a second bridge to alleviate this bottleneck when the hotel alongside the bridge was demolished. Did they take it? No! they built another small shopping park instead, thus making the traffic congestion worse. They then let Asda expand their store in the same area and then refused Sainsbury's their expansion on the grounds that "traffic was already congested in the area".

I told you not to get me started. I will have to go and lie down now.

Check this out. It is at the other end of Anderson Drive from hte bridge bottleneck.http://local.stv.tv/aberdeen/news/15221-aberdeen-roundabout-nominated-as-worst-in-uk/

Aberdeen City Council wanted to let First Bus build a new bus depot and head office on a site off this roundabout, only stopped after vociferous protest from city residents.

[Elizabethsdad]

A friend of mine worked along side the victim of this incident. I was speaking to his wife today and she said that two other employees in the same department as the victim had had bad cycling accidents in quite a short space of time. As a result everyone in that department is so shaken by this they have all stopped cycling in.