A controversial city bypass will be completed ahead of schedule, ministers have pledged, as they said the £745 million project is closer to starting.
Work on the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route had been held up by a legal challenge and the project was due to be completed in spring of 2018. But Infrastructure, Investment and Cities Secretary Keith Brown announced it would be finished in the winter of 2017.
The claim comes after a letter confirming the intention to award the contract to Connect Roads was issued, with Transport Scotland saying the process is in its final phase. The road will carry traffic 28 miles around the city. The project includes a second road from Stonehaven in the south and the dualling of the A90 between Balmedie and Tipperty in the north.
Mr Brown said the progress of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route/Balmedie-Tipperty (AWPR/B-T) was "unprecedented". He added: "Since overcoming all the legal challenges back in October 2012, we have done all we can to accelerate the procurement and construction of the AWPR/B-T.
"Following the shortest procurement processes for a contract of this size and complexity - it has been just 23 months since the contract was put to the market - we have now been able to also bring the completion date forward to winter 2017."
Mr Brown said the project would boost the north-east economy by some £6 billion and create about 14,000 jobs over the next 30 years - including more than 1,000 jobs for the construction industry.
Businesses and drivers will see tangible benefits as a result of the faster journey times and reduced congestion, he added.
Mr Brown added: "More widely, we are committed to making improvements at the Haudagain roundabout once work on the AWPR scheme is finished and are reviewing the programme in the light of the new completion date.
"We are investing in a new Inveramsay bridge on the A96, have made a longer-term commitment to dual the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness and are investing £170m to improve rail links between the two cities.
"We have committed nearly £1bn towards improving transport infrastructure in the north-east, which shows without question the Scottish Government's determination to improve transport infrastructure in the north-east, and I look forward to road users feeling the benefits of the scheme being realised earlier."
The Scottish Government is to pay more than 80 per cent of the cost of building the new road, with Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeenshire Council contributing £75m each.
Aberdeen City Council leader Jenny Laing said: "I am delighted to hear we have reached this very important stage in the tender process.
"I am sure the people in the north-east will be delighted to learn this hugely significant project is progressing and we are another step closer to the delivery of the much-needed AWPR."
Jim Gifford, leader of Aberdeenshire Council, said: "It is very satisfying to reach this stage of the tender process.
"With preparatory work already under way on some sections of the route, we'll soon be able to see this important infrastructure project taking shape."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article