A continuous segregated cycle lane has been approved for the length of Union Street.
Aberdeen councillors on Thursday voted to add the bike lanes from either end of the segregated lane already planned for the Market Street to Bridge Street section.
They will run down the northern side of the Granite Mile, from Holburn Junction all the way to through the Castlegate.
It’s part of a £100 million road overhaul – priced for the first time last week.
Councillors will be asked to spell out how to pay for their newly approved way forward for Aberdeen city centre next month come budget day.
But the route to agreeing the way forward was as labyrinthian as opponents argue Aberdeen’s streets have become.
Four differing views of Union Street were brought forward, some which would have slammed the council into reverse.
Labour reignited the fight over pedestrianisation of central Union Street, while the Conservatives wanted the cycle lanes and Guild Street bus gates scrapped at the double.
Independent councillor Marie Boulton, who quit her city centre masterplan brief in 2021 over her fears for pedestrianisation, wanted the central stretch of Union Street to be re-re-designed to get rid of the proposed bike lanes too.
Clear road ahead: What are the latest plans for Aberdeen city centre?
A meaty update on the already agreed path ahead, the SNP and Liberal Democrats running Aberdeen City Council rubber-stamped the official recommendations.
The full Union Street bike lane will wind around floating bus stop islands, which are hoped to allow safe access to public transport among the cyclists.
Masterplanner Sandy Beattie also advocated for a cycle route through the Merchant Quarter, from Guild Street to Union Street via Carmelite Street.
In the future another segregated bike lane could be introduced on Guild Street and Market Street, linking the bus and train station with the Granite Mile.
The plans also include a bus lane through the Castlegate to offer a straight line off Union Street down the Beach Boulevard.
And there could be an airy overhaul of parts of Rose Street, Thistle Street and Chapel Street up the other end of Aberdeen city centre too.
Council officials think the £100m spend would bring £500m back into the city’s economy.
Ska-thing indictment of Union Street as Labour pushes pedestrianisation
Labour attacked the decision not to pedestrianise central Union Street, for “making it easier” for Marks and Spencer to dish the city centre’s latest blow.
The high street giant is shutting its St Nicholas Street shop next spring in favour of expansion at Union Square.
Full pedestrianisation, approved by the Labour-led previous council administration, was overturned when they lost political control at the Town House.
As you would expect, councillor Nurul Hoque Ali made his party’s case for it again with a 10-second spoken-word recital of a ska-rock classic.
“Every time I look down Union Street, I’m reminded of a song by the Specials. I am sure some of the older members remember it.
“It goes something like this…” he began.
“This town, is coming like a ghost town.
“All the clubs have been closed down.
“This town, is coming like a ghost town.
“Do you remember the good old days before the ghost town?”
It was a theme he revisited seemingly as often as the frequently touring Coventry band play shows.
Mr Ali added: “Now it’s sad to see but this town, our town, has turned into a ghost town and the major reason is the SNP’s unwillingness to bring forward pedestrianisation.”
He bemoaned the vote to allow buses back on to Union Street.
And claimed that was settled to allow continued access to M&S, before the departure was announced.
Aberdeen: A Cinderella story
Repeating the line at least another four times, Mr Ali later clarified Aberdeen was a great place “in danger” of becoming a ghost town.
And so began a critical analysis of the 1981 number one hit, with independent councillor Barney Crockett adding: “I don’t think Aberdeen is in the situation that The Specials home area was in terms of industrial dereliction and total decline.
“But what is the real reality of Aberdeen is that it is maybe the key point in Britain of a fiscal crisis, a local authority that is uniquely a Cinderella of the Scottish Government.”
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Mr Crockett had earlier withdrawn his backing for Mrs Boulton after she doubled down on attacking the idea of Union Street pedestrianisation.
Her second seconder, Councillor Jennifer Stewart, also flitted, voting with the Conservatives at crunch time.
That move caused some confusion at the officials’ desk, notably on the face of commissioning director Gale Beattie.
In a democratic downpour of three voting rounds, solitary Mrs Boulton and the Conservatives were topped by Labour.
Labour’s renewed pedestrianisation calls were then beaten 22-11 by the SNP and Lib Dems.
Wheels of dreams: ‘Build it and they will come’ plea from cyclists
Spilling over into a second day, the SNP and Liberal Democrats had the support from Aberdeen Cycle Forum on their plans.
Chairman Gavin Clark said: “Experience from elsewhere is that people will change their behaviours if you give them the infrastructure.
“‘If you build it, they will come’ is the phrase.”
Mr Clark told councillors it had felt an “uphill struggle” since his group was formed to force improvements in cycling infrastructure.
“To be blunt, it was fatalities amongst cyclists that led to our formation 20 years,” he added.
“Safe places to cycle, segregated from traffic and that are appealing to a wide range of potential cyclists are still relatively hard to find.
“There are none serving the city centre as such.
“Details remain to be resolved and of course the timescale for delivery is slower than I would like.
“But this does feel a significant step in the right direction.”
Conversation