The Aberdeen Western Peripheral Road/Balmedie to Tipperty (AWPR/B-T) project has reached a significant milestone with a 12km section expected to open this week, Wednesday 15 August.

The Balmedie to Tipperty section, which represents one fifth of the entire project, will open ahead of the busy morning traffic.

It includes three new junctions, 9 km of new dual carriageway between Balmedie and Bridgend, as well as 3 km of improvements to the existing dual carriageway between Blackdog and Balmedie.

The upgrades will also improve safety and journey time reliability on the A90, and provide safer access between the A90 and the local road network.

Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity, Mr Matheson said: "This comes soon after the opening of the 7 km section of the AWPR between Parkhill and Blackdog, giving road users a dual carriageway from Parkhill all the way to South Ellon roundabout for the first time.

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"We said we would open new sections of road as soon as they were ready for traffic and we are delivering on that commitment. This will be very welcome news to the local community, road users and businesses who have been so patient while these works have been on-going. We thank them for their continued support.

"Every day tens of thousands of drivers will now begin to reap the benefits of this section of new road, which was originally a separate project to the AWPR, through enhanced safety, reduced congestion, improved journey time reliability, and safer access to local areas and the wider public network."

Leader of Aberdeenshire Council Cllr Jim Gifford added: "It is very pleasing to see the Balmedie-Tipperty section of the route fully open to traffic. As well as improving access to communities along the A90, the development brings some welcome additional capacity on what is an important route for commuting and business traffic.

"It also brings us a step closer to the conclusion of the AWPR/B-T project and it is now even easier to visualise how the development will improve access and journey times across the north-east."

The AWPR/B-T will open in late Autumn 2018, bringing over £6 billion to the north-east economy and creating around 14,000 jobs over the next 30 years.

(CM/MH)