Temporary road order means AWPR finish line in sight

Transport Scotland has published a temporary road order, which will ‘set the stage for the 7.5-m Balmedie to Tipperty section of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Road/Balmedie to Tipperty (AWPR/B-T) project to open in the coming weeks’.

The order lets Aberdeen Roads Limited (ARL) implement a reduced speed limit to the slip roads associated with the new junctions at Balmedie, Newburgh and Tipperty and enables it to ‘undertake final preparation works in advance of this section being fully open to traffic’.

Transport Scotland said the link between Balmedie and Tipperty ‘will improve safety and journey time reliability, and provide better access to local areas and the wider public road network’.

Douglas Laird, Transport Scotland AWPR/B-T project manager said: ‘We said we would work with ARL to open new sections of road to bring the benefits of the project to people as soon as possible and practicable. Today’s publication is a significant step towards opening the upgraded section of A90 between Balmedie and Tipperty.

‘While we will only know the exact date when final works and safety inspections are fully complete, this milestone allows the contractor to start the necessary finishing works and certainly signals we’re in the home stretch. We expect to announce more details in due course.’

This section of road represents around one-fifth of the entire AWPR/B-T project and includes 6 miles (9km) of new dual carriageway between Balmedie and Bridgend, as well as 1.5 miles (3km) of improvements to the existing dual carriageway between Balmedie and Blackdog.

The work to the trunk road network around Aberdeen was described as ‘urgently in need of improvement’ by Lord Reed who gave the project the green light.