Council roads bosses have recommended the full pedestrianisation of Broad Street in Aberdeen as part of redevelopment plans for the authority’s former headquarters building.
Officials were tasked last year with looking at three options for traffic management to accommodate a proposal for a civic square outside Marischal College.
Councillors will be asked to agree that closing off the road to all traffic – including buses and taxis – from Queen Street to Upperkirkgate is the preferred solution.
Additional measures are expected to be needed to cope with the impact on surrounding streets.
Broad Street is used as a route for a number of First Aberdeen and Stagecoach buses, including the Jet 727 airport shuttle service.
Property firm Muse Developments is currently working on proposals to transform the old St Nicholas House site as part of the £100million Marischal Square project.
A draft report for a meeting of the council’s enterprise, strategic planning and infrastructure committee on March 13 includes an analysis of three options – to do nothing, allow buses and taxis to use the route or close it off to traffic altogether.
Full pedestrianisation was considered to offer the greatest benefit to pedestrians and cyclists.
Under the proposals, new bus stops would be created on Upperkirkgate to replace those on Broad Street.
Flourmill Lane would be closed off to through traffic to prevent rat-running.
Bus services would be re-routed on to Schoolhill-Union Terrace and to King Street-West North Street.
It is expected that funding for the pedestrianisation scheme would come from the Marischal Square developers. The council’s Labour-led administration said previously that it would look at creating a pedestrian zone on Union Street, but those plans were shelved last year.