Aberdeenshire Council has been urged to provide a firm date for the opening of a new road after another deadline was missed.
The call has come, more than a year after the route was originally built, and has led some residents to describe it as a “road to nowhere”.
The link, which connects the B9170 Oldmeldrum Road to the B9001 at Rothienorman was constructed by Malcolm Allan Housebuilders to meet a planning condition attached to housing developments at Uryside and Portstown.
But, although the work was completed last year, the road remains closed because of a design fault at the Rothienorman end; a dip in the roundabout which prompted fears high-sided vehicles could topple over.
The local authority began remedial action to rectify the problem this summer and estimated the work would be completed by November.
But that deadline has come and gone and Peter Chapman, north-east Tory MSP, has contacted Aberdeenshire Council for an update.
He stated: “The council said construction is complete, and it’s now awaiting the results of an independent road safety audit and for some “minor issues” to be addressed to allow the road to open fully.
“A timescale for the opening has not been provided, but I know local residents in this area have been wondering for some time now when this road would ever open.
“It has been a long-running saga, but it seems the work is complete, barring some issues which the council has described as minor.”
Aberdeenshire provost and Inverurie and District councillor, Hamish Vernal, is among those hoping the matter will be swiftly resolved.
He added: “I am looking forward to it being finished by Christmas. It certainly has been a long time coming.”
Colin Wood, the development technical manager at Malcolm Allan Housebuilders Ltd, responded: “We, like most of the businesses and the public in Inverurie, are looking forward to the link road opening.
“Hunter Construction has worked hard, with the support of Aberdeenshire Council’s roads team, to get the roundabout completed.
“With only two working weeks to Christmas, any extra work required by the safety audit could mean that we won’t get to use the road until after the holiday.”