Dundonians catching buses to and from the city railway station have raised safety concerns about the lack of a bus bay outside the terminal.
The stretch of South Union Street outside the station is split into directed lanes: “All Routes”, “Aberdeen, Tay Bridge” and a third that feeds into the A991 towards Hawkhill.
The latter lane includes the bus stop outside the station.
Bus drivers pull alongside the kerb, but there is no bay for them to remove their vehicles from the busy traffic flow behind them.
At peak times, tailbacks can become potentially hazardous, as frustrated drivers pull out sharply into the “All Routes” lane.
Local residents expressed concerns about the traffic hot spot with West End Liberal Democrat councillors, Fraser Macpherson and Michael Crichton.
They took the matter to the council and were told by the local authority’s team leader for parking and sustainable transport that there had been a discussion about a bus lane.
But it was rejected to make the area in front of the station more attractive.
Councillor Macpherson said concern for public safety should be the priority.
The station opened in July 2018 at a cost of £38 million.
‘High quality public realm’
The council’s team leader for parking and sustainable transport, John Berry, told the councillors:
“I do recall that there was a discussion about pros and cons of a bus lay-by (circa 2015/2016) at the station but I can’t recall the detail of why it was rejected.
“My best memory was that ultimately it was a considered decision taken by the then Director of City Development and based on a desire for high quality public realm in front of the station.”
The “public realm” is a description used by local governments to describe public spaces.
‘Sightlines fairly good’
Mr Berry continued: “In practice, the Stagecoach buses stopping at this location has not caused significant disruption to traffic and I am unaware of any accidents involving buses.
The sightlines are fairly good on the approach from east and west and much of the traffic should be travelling at reduced speeds.”
‘Public safety paramount’
Councillor Macpherson added, “We really don’t accept the “high quality public realm” argument against putting in a bus bay here – public safety is paramount and the space in front of the station is really wide so a bus bay could have been accommodated without impacting on the quality of the public realm at all.”
‘Near misses’
Councillor Crichton said: “Residents have raised with us the fact that, as there is no bus bay for the Stagecoach buses that drop off and pick up passengers at the station, the very busy inside lane is blocked when a bus is stationary at the bus stop.
“This leads to drivers trying to switch lane to get past the bus and residents have highlighted examples of near misses of vehicles as some drivers dart out to get past the bus and back into the nearside lane.
“All this could have been avoided if the council simply supplied a bus bay at this site.”
‘Common sense’
Mr Macpherson explained: “We did have the accident record database checked and although accepting that any bumps to date will have been minor as there have been no more serious accidents reported to Police Scotland since 2019, we still think it would be common sense to provide a bus bay – not just from the safety aspect but it would also help avoid tailbacks at this very busy stretch on road when buses are stopped at the bus stop, particularly at rush hour.”
The councillors have asked the director of city development if senior officers can discuss this request more fully.
Councillor Crichton concluded: “There’s a wider issue about the disconnect between rail station and bus station services in the city but meantime we would like to see the bus situation right outside the rail station addressed.”
