Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Third Don Crossing must be built as well as AWPR

Councillor Jenny Laing
Councillor Jenny Laing

The leader of Aberdeenshire Council called on his city counterparts yesterday to ensure the third Don crossing becomes a reality.

Councillor Jim Gifford said the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route would have little effect if commuters from Aberdeenshire would simply become stuck in traffic congestion in the city.

Last week, it was revealed that Aberdeen has the slowest rush-hour in Scotland.

Mr Gifford welcomed yesterday’s announcement that Connect Roads is the Scottish Government’s preferred bidder to complete the AWPR and Balmedie to Tipperty projects.

He said: “It is just great seeing progress being made and hopefully the project will be up and running by 2018 as planned.

“There is a need for the Balmedie to Tipperty section to be completed as soon as possible.

“It will make a huge difference to people coming from places like Peterhead and Ellon but there will be little impact if they have to sit in a traffic jam in Aberdeen.

“We need to have the third Don crossing built as well.”

But Aberdeen leader Jenny Laing said the Labour-led administration were committed to delivering the £15million new bridge – which will connect the Parkway to St Machar Drive via Grandholm Village and Tillydrone – in 2015.

Yesterday she said the AWPR would have a significant impact on existing congestion issues in the city.

She said: “I think the announcement of Connect Roads as the preferred bidder is a very significant step in the project and we have been committed to it since 2003 and have put £75million into the budget.

“I think a lot of people wondered if it would ever get off the ground and it is an important sign to residents in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire that this road will be a reality.

“The council has made a decision that the third Don crossing is going to happen and the successful bidder for that process will be delivering it on timescales we have laid out.”