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Aberdeen Commonplace map closes for comments tomorrow
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the Spaces for People Commonplace map for Aberdeen. We've had a great response, with over 2400 visitors to the site and 830 contributions so far!
Comments can still be added until 23:50 tomorrow, Thursday 13th August, so please share the page with others who might be interested.
All of your responses will be analysed to help refine and prioritise current proposals. Comments can also help identify new locations where temporary measures for physical distancing are needed.
To keep up to date with the latest information on what measures are being installed, you can visit the Aberdeen City Council website which is updated regularly.
Thank you again for your time and ideas, if you have further comments the page remains open until 23:50 tomorrow.
Progress continues on creating Space for People in Aberdeen
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the Spaces for People Commonplace map for Aberdeen. We have had a great response so far, with over 2000 visitors and 700 contributions.
Comments can still be added to the map, so please share the page with others who might be interested, or add any more comments you might have – the closing date has now been extended to Thursday 13th August.
One of the main issues that you have identified on the Commonplace page over the last few weeks is footpaths being too narrow – over a third of all comments have included this. To address this issue and allow everyone to physically distance safely, additional space has been provided for footways across Aberdeen – so far, this has happened across the city centre, as well as on Victoria Road, with more interventions still to come, including on George Street.
You have also told us that one of the solutions you want to see involves more safe space to cycle – again almost a third of comments so far have requested this. As the first stages of a wider plan, over the last few weeks, consultations have taken place on cycle routes from the Bridge of Don area to the City Centre via the Beach, as well as from Hazelhead to the City Centre. Changes have also been made in Rosemount to make it easier for people to get around the area.
You can find a full list of projects completed and underway, along with more information, on the dedicated Aberdeen City Council website .
Aberdeen Spaces for People Update
Thanks very much to everyone who has commented on our Commonplace map so far!
We want to know your views on how Aberdeen can enable essential journeys, access to open spaces, economic recovery, and improvements to public transport access, so please continue to get involved by sharing your views on the interactive map . We want to hear from as many people as possible, so please share the link to this page as widely as you can!
So far, temporary changes have been made in Aberdeen City Centre to help protect public health by reducing Covid-19 transmission in the city. The measures will further help the economic recovery of the city and allow people to continue to walk and cycle safely. These temporary measures will create the space for people to physically distance near shops and eateries and are facilitating businesses to reopen.
Later stages of the works, which are due to start in the next few weeks, will see temporary changes to the road layout and on-street parking to widen pavements in Rosemount, Peterculter, and Cults, as well as on North Deeside Road and George Street.
The designs are continually being reviewed and feedback from businesses and the public is being taken into consideration.
Temporary measures have been installed at the bridge end of Victoria Road in Torry which will allow people in the area to walk about and queue for shops and buses, while observing physical distancing.
A public consultation is currently underway for temporary improvements to the Beach Boulevard, Esplanade and Ellon Road - you can find out more here , where you can view the designs and give your feedback.
To find out more about the latest changes, visit the dedicated Aberdeen City Council webpage here .
Work continues on changing road layouts to allow better physical distancing for pedestrians
Work is continuing to create more space for pedestrians to allow them to better physically distance while walking or standing in queues in city centre streets.
The temporary measures will allow local residents and people who work in or visit the city to walk, cycle, and queue for buses and shops, bars, and restaurants while adhering to physical distancing guidance and support the NHS.
The measures will also help protect the public’s health by reducing COVID-19 transmission in the city which will in turn reduce the number of cases NHS Grampian’s contact tracing team have to cope with, making their intervention easier and more effective. The measures will further help economic recovery of the city and also help people to use active travel such as walking and cycling.
The works are being carried out by Aberdeen City Council after a ring-fenced £1.76million grant from the Scottish Government’s Spaces for People fund which is being administered by Sustrans, and measures taking place in several locations around the city include temporary pedestrianisation, pavement widening, and bike lanes.
The city centre, and Union Street in particular, faces challenges because pavements are not wide enough to accommodate the current 2-metre level of physical distancing.
The works starting tomorrow includes installation of new signs, hard barriers, double yellow lines, along with removing irrelevant signs and adding cones to streets in Chapel Street, Rose Street and Thistle Street, Upperkirkgate, Schoolhill and Union Street to widen pavements. Additional sections of road in these areas will be pedestrianised. The pedestrianised areas will be pedestrianised at all times and service vehicles only will be allowed access on these pedestrianised areas from 6pm to 10am. Regular traffic will not be allowed at any time.
City centre traffic must re-route to free up carriageway space for businesses, pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users. Motorists are advised to plan their journey in advance talking appropriate routes which avoid Union Street to access city centre car parks.
Aberdeen City Council transport spokesperson Councillor Sandra Macdonald said: “It’s great to see the work continuing in the city centre to allow pedestrians to physically distance and encourage people to cycle.
“The temporary measures will allow people to move and queue for shops safely around the city centre away from traffic which in turn will help the social and economic recovery of the city.
“The health and wellbeing of residents is at the forefront of our minds as we make these changes to city centre streets during this public health emergency.”
The program was developed with NHS Grampian, transport organisation NESTRANS, and Business Improvement District operator Aberdeen Inspired, and organisations which have been consulted include city centre businesses, bus companies, taxi firms, Police Scotland, the Disability Equity Partnership, and other local groups.
NHS Grampian Director of Public Health Susan Web said: said “Helping people to maintain physical distancing and avoid overcrowding in indoor areas remain vitally important for the foreseeable future to prevent a second wave of infection, so these changes are a necessity to protect the health of people in the city.”
As part of consultation with the public, an online questionnaire is available at https://consultation.aberdeencity.gov.uk/planning/physical-distancing and people are invited to take part. Consultation with the public will be carried out throughout the temporary measures, along with monitoring of user/traffic numbers and consultation with local businesses.
Aberdeen City Council will continue to review, monitor, and evaluate the interventions while discussions are held with stakeholders. The continual reviewing may mean changes to the interventions, and it is also a requirement of the fund, which is being administered by sustainable transport body Sustrans Scotland.
The length of time the temporary measures will be in place will be determined by NHS and Government guidance for physical distancing.
Road layouts changes in community areas to allow better physical distancing in city centre
As part of the Aberdeen's response to Phase 1 of the Scottish Government’s Route Map for easing Covid-19 restrictions, Aberdeen City Council are working with partners, including Sustrans and NHS Grampian, to allow activity to safely resume in the city.
More details on the first wave of changes on the city centre can be found here.