The studies, which focus on active travel and public transport connections, continue the ongoing work of Aberdeen City Council and partners to consider means of locking-in benefits of the city bypass on the principal transport corridors linking Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen.

Both studies have put several options forward including new cycle routes, introducing priority for buses, speed reductions and supporting placemaking measures such as village greens, landmarks, and gateway signage to help create a greater community feeling within areas.

The A93 consultation offers potential options which promote sustainable travel along the corridor whilst ensuring that there are no unintended routeing consequences on parallel routes.

The key aims of the A93 study are to identify options that improve the quality of the pedestrian and cycling experience along the corridor and address the barriers which affect some groups moving around as a pedestrian or cyclist, improve the quality of bus travel on the corridor for all users, enhancing the travel experience both for current bus users and to attract new users by reducing bus journey times and improving journey time consistency, and improve integration between sustainable travel modes.

The A947 study area, which includes both Riverview Drive and Victoria Street through Dyce, will place particular focus on how to improve conditions for pedestrians, wheelchair users, cyclists, horse riders, and public transport users of the route for both southbound movements towards the city centre and northbound movements into Aberdeenshire. It also has a focus on placemaking opportunities along Victoria Street.

Both of the public consultations are available via Aberdeen City Council’s website at Aberdeen City Council - Citizen Space until Friday 19 August 2022.

Public exhibitions are also being held as part of the consultations in Aberdeen, Peterculter, and Banchory for the A93 study and Dyce for the A947 study, as well as live question and answer sessions next month.

For the A93 study, public exhibitions are being held in Great Western Hotel, Aberdeen, on Tuesday 26 July, Culter Village Hall on Wednesday 3 August, and Banchory West Church on Thursday 4 August, all from 4pm to 8pm. The online Q&A sessions will be held on Wednesday 10 August and Wednesday 17 August, both from 7pm to 8pm.

For the A947 study, a public exhibition is being held at Dyce Parish Church on Wednesday 27 July from 4pm to 8pm, and the online Q&A sessions are on Wednesday 10 August and Wednesday 17 August, both from 7pm to 8pm.