A90/A96 Haudagain Roundabout - and the solution is...

[Glom]

That looks terrible. If they are prepared to break out the bulldozers and tear through substantial amounts of existing property, wouldn't it be better to just enlarge the roundabout and dig out an underpass?

BTW, in this table, what's PM?

[matt-thepie]

I fail to see how replacing one roundabout with THREE consecutive, closely spaced sets of lights will solve anything.

If they are demolishing all that property anyway, just grade separate it...

The Berryden corridor improvement is also just as rubbish. A new dual carriageway with three new hideous sets of traffic lights in addition to the existing ones will not flow any better. Especially as nothing is being done at the college street end, where the route just ends at a set of the slowest lights in the history of mankind.

[Queeg]

I would like to think the third bridge (if it ever gets built) will take some traffic away from the Haudagain. But can't say the design impresses me. More traffic signals? Ideally they will only need to be two phase (for example, no need to permit a right turn from link road onto Auchmill) and pedestrian crossing phases incorporated into that but I imagine we will be left with the typically inefficient signals that plague the roads here.

I'm just grateful I have little reason to be at that side of town at any time of the day!

[cb a1]

BTW, in this table, what's PM?

Pretty sure it's afternoon peak period (17:00 to 18:00)

Bit sloppy but typical short-hand.

[matt-thepie]

I would like to think the third bridge (if it ever gets built) will take some traffic away from the Haudagain.

Note that the current roundabout at the intersection of St Machar Drive / Tillydrone Road / Bedford Road, where the connection to the new bridge will be, is also going to be replaced by traffic lights

[SuperLez]

I fail to see how replacing one roundabout with THREE consecutive, closely spaced sets of lights will solve anything.

If they are demolishing all that property anyway, just grade separate it...

The Berryden corridor improvement is also just as rubbish. A new dual carriageway with three new hideous sets of traffic lights in addition to the existing ones will not flow any better. Especially as nothing is being done at the college street end, where the route just ends at a set of the slowest lights in the history of mankind.

Manor Avenue and Hilton Drive are both important bus routes. This is probably the reason for the set of lights either side of the tie ins. As for grade separation, the council have stated that once the bypass is built then priority will be given to the radial routes into the city as opposed to Anderson Drive. So I doubt that they would want to build something that actually helped the traffic flow situation here.

[SuperLez]

I would like to think the third bridge (if it ever gets built) will take some traffic away from the Haudagain. But can't say the design impresses me. More traffic signals? Ideally they will only need to be two phase (for example, no need to permit a right turn from link road onto Auchmill) and pedestrian crossing phases incorporated into that but I imagine we will be left with the typically inefficient signals that plague the roads here.

I'm just grateful I have little reason to be at that side of town at any time of the day!

The council have very recently said that the contract for the Third Don Crossing is to be awarded very soon with construction commencing in the summer.

I suspect that the signals will be deliberately phased in a manner that is not exactly efficient. By doing this, it would surely encourage traffic going from one part of the city to another to make use of the bypass as opposed to Anderson Drive.

Unfortunately, I have to make far more than my fair share of this junction.

[SuperLez]

I would like to think the third bridge (if it ever gets built) will take some traffic away from the Haudagain.

Note that the current roundabout at the intersection of St Machar Drive / Tillydrone Road / Bedford Road, where the connection to the new bridge will be, is also going to be replaced by traffic lights

They also plan to close Bedford Rd to all traffic except for buses and cyclists.

[Queeg]

I would like to think the third bridge (if it ever gets built) will take some traffic away from the Haudagain. But can't say the design impresses me. More traffic signals? Ideally they will only need to be two phase (for example, no need to permit a right turn from link road onto Auchmill) and pedestrian crossing phases incorporated into that but I imagine we will be left with the typically inefficient signals that plague the roads here.

I'm just grateful I have little reason to be at that side of town at any time of the day!

The council have very recently said that the contract for the Third Don Crossing is to be awarded very soon with construction commencing in the summer.

I suspect that the signals will be deliberately phased in a manner that is not exactly efficient. By doing this, it would surely encourage traffic going from one part of the city to another to make use of the bypass as opposed to Anderson Drive.

Unfortunately, I have to make far more than my fair share of this junction.

They will tinker with the lights to make them less than efficient. Creating congestion seems to be part of the council's mentality these days. An example is the Lang Stracht, up till a wee while ago, if you got one light at green, you could generally sail through the rest at green if you sat around 30mph. It's nigh on impossible now. Or try turning from Broad Street onto Union Street at 4am, takes the best part of 3-4 minutes before the light will turn green, despite no traffic in any direction.

It's things like this that concern me with regards to traffic lights on such a busy route. If we had some competent engineers with a spine who'd tell the council officers to do one and let them do their job, then it's be less of a worry.

[matt-thepie]

They also plan to close Bedford Rd to all traffic except for buses and cyclists.

I thought they just wanted to put a Bus Gate at the top end, where it meets Powis Terrace?

There's a shopping centre and university access on Bedford Road. Can't see how they could possibly close it to cars entirely.

[SuperLez]

I would like to think the third bridge (if it ever gets built) will take some traffic away from the Haudagain. But can't say the design impresses me. More traffic signals? Ideally they will only need to be two phase (for example, no need to permit a right turn from link road onto Auchmill) and pedestrian crossing phases incorporated into that but I imagine we will be left with the typically inefficient signals that plague the roads here.

I'm just grateful I have little reason to be at that side of town at any time of the day!

The council have very recently said that the contract for the Third Don Crossing is to be awarded very soon with construction commencing in the summer.

I suspect that the signals will be deliberately phased in a manner that is not exactly efficient. By doing this, it would surely encourage traffic going from one part of the city to another to make use of the bypass as opposed to Anderson Drive.

Unfortunately, I have to make far more than my fair share of this junction.

They will tinker with the lights to make them less than efficient. Creating congestion seems to be part of the council's mentality these days. An example is the Lang Stracht, up till a wee while ago, if you got one light at green, you could generally sail through the rest at green if you sat around 30mph. It's nigh on impossible now. Or try turning from Broad Street onto Union Street at 4am, takes the best part of 3-4 minutes before the light will turn green, despite no traffic in any direction.

It's things like this that concern me with regards to traffic lights on such a busy route. If we had some competent engineers with a spine who'd tell the council officers to do one and let them do their job, then it's be less of a worry.

You could say this about any strategic route through the city these days. Just slap up sets of signals here, there and everywhere...and make sure that you've got to stop at just about every one of them!

Would be nice if the road engineers would grow a set and tell the council busybodies where to stick their idea of traffic management. But can you really see this happening?

[SuperLez]

They also plan to close Bedford Rd to all traffic except for buses and cyclists.

I thought they just wanted to put a Bus Gate at the top end, where it meets Powis Terrace?

There's a shopping centre and university access on Bedford Road. Can't see how they could possibly close it to cars entirely.

You're dead right! I think I wrote this post a wee bit hastily!

Can see problems with this though. Almost certain that cars will use the likes of Sunnybank Road and Elmbank Terrace as rat runs. A new 24 hour McDonalds drive thru at Kittybrewster won't help matters here either.

[wrinkly]

A series of questions in the Scottish Parliament about whether Aberdeen City Council representatives attended the Haudagain exhibitions. No idea why. See the last two pages of this:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/S4_Ch ... 140502.pdf

[wrinkly]

Draft orders published and exhibitions being held:

http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/pro ... mprovement

http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/new ... esign-show

The best diagrams of the scheme seem to be figs. 2-4, round about page 12 of the Non-Technical Summary of the Environmental Statement:

http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/sys ... ts/NTS.pdf

For a scheme to improve a junction that will have been bypassed, there's quite a lot of property demolition.

[Glom]

I guess if there was ever a time to CPO property in Aberdeen, it is now.

[SuperLez]

I guess if there was ever a time to CPO property in Aberdeen, it is now.

Even though the city has been hit hard with the current downturn in the oil industry, house prices have barely shifted down as yet.

And anyway, how many people would have taken "advantage" of the Right To Buy scheme in Manor, Logie and Middlefield?

[orudge]

Shortlisted bidders announced for this project.

No indication of timescales on the Transport Scotland web site, but assuming the AWPR opens by the summer, then might we see construction next year?

[Osthagen]

This thread was started ten years ago and still nothing useful has been done…?

[wrinkly]

This thread was started ten years ago and still nothing useful has been done…?

A design has been developed and statutory processes gone through. It has been stated many times that construction will start after the AWPR is open.

[B9127]

£18 million for 500m of dual carriageway! We were robbed !