A Dundee bypass is the only tangible way to ease traffic congestion along the Kingsway, bosses at a city watchdog have said.
Donald Gordon, chairman of Dundee Civic Trust, has been of that view for decades.
And with the Kingsway now in line for major investment thanks to the Scottish Government’s Strategic Transport Projects Review 2 (STPR2), he said now is the time to reignite that debate.
Detail on what could be done with the Kingsway are light. A Transport Scotland spokeswoman said further details will come after public consultation, which comes to an end next month.
STPR2 is government planners’ once-in-a-decade review of which parts of Scotland’s transport infrastructure should receive investment.
The report also mentioned Tayside and Fife railways.
Why a bypass on the Kingsway?
A bypass has been long-mooted to ease congestion in Dundee.
However, issues such as the impact on Camperdown Park has hindered any meaningful progress.
The ageing Kingsway may not be fit for the coming century and a bypass would mitigate that, a Courier editorial in 2019, on the centenary of the road’s opening, suggested.
Donald Gordon quickly threw his support behind the idea, saying it could boost the local economy.
His suggestion would see a new road built near Longforgan before rejoining the A90 north of Inveraldie.
He said: “We feel a bypass is the only way to tackle the traffic issues facing Dundee and the Kingsway.
“It would create a better traffic flow so would help with air pollution.”
Donald admits a bypass in unlikely, however, due to a lack of political will. He estimates there is a “less than 50% chance” of it happening.
Transport Scotland planners have previously estimated such a project could cost up to £250m. But that was in 2008, so costs would undoubtedly be far higher now.
Dundee Civic Trust members estimate it would cost in the region of £900m.
Isn’t road building banned in Scotland?
The building of new roads has become a contentious issue in Scotland since the Greens entered into a coalition with the SNP.
Tanya Jones is standing for the Greens in Coldside, Dundee at the upcoming local elections.
While admitting a bypass could ease “severe congestion problems” on the Kingsway, she poured cold water on the proposal.
“Attractive as it sounds, building a bypass isn’t a genuine solution,” she said.
All nominated! I'm incredibly excited to be standing for the @scottishgreens in my beautiful, warm and welcoming home ward. In just over 6 weeks, if the people of Coldside choose, I'll be joining all the other Green councillors across Scotland, working for all our communities. pic.twitter.com/Xqua3vzTx1
— Tanya Jones (@decombustion) March 23, 2022
“Decades of experience in towns and cities across the world have shown that building new roads simply increases traffic, encourages the building of more out of town retail, drive throughs and other car-dependent developments.
“It ends up creating even more congestion, air pollution and carbon emissions.”
Tanya said the money needed to build such an expansive road would be better spent improving bus services and active travel networks.
“These would serve the people of Dundee, including the many families who have no access to a car, much better in both the short and long term,” she said.
Why does the Kingsway need changed?
Richard McCready is chairman of Tactran (Tayside and Central Scotland Transport Partnership).
He claims Tactran has been left in the dark over the plans and called for greater clarity sooner rather than later.
Richard, who is also a councillor for Dundee’s West End, said the road can be problematic.
He said: “It can be a difficult and unattractive place for people walking, wheeling and cycling to cross.
“Xplore Dundee has told me time and time again that buses are regularly delayed at junctions on the Kingsway. Often for several minutes.”
But he remains unconvinced a bypass is the right measure to tackle these issues.
He added: “Previous plans talked about the possibility of a bypass for Dundee. In terms of the climate emergency, that may seem beyond acceptable now.
“But if that is the case then we need to know what is acceptable and what would work.”
Is active travel suitable on such a busy road?
Richard is keen to promote active travel such as cycling and walking.
He added: “If we are serious about the climate emergency then we must encourage active travel and public transport in Dundee.”
As chairman of the Dundee Cycling Forum, Russell Pepper campaigns for better bike facilities in the city.
He points out that cycle paths already exist along stretches of the busy road.
He highlighted this in a Tweet last year:
As a side note, when they built the Kingsway, they also put in very wide cycle paths on either side – they're now access roads but still there after almost 80 years! pic.twitter.com/LUT8hJKhxo
— Russell Pepper (@openclosedundee) November 13, 2021
Russell said: “They had the right idea almost 100 years ago, but somehow we still can’t get things right.
“The Kingsway is definitely a key route for a cycle network.
“It connects communities with destinations — that’s key for a cycle network.
“There’s also a lot of room to work with to create a high quality route as part of a city-wide network.”
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said STPR2 recommends “increased investment” for the “A90 Kingsway through Dundee” to “improve reliability and deliver improvements for local active travel and public transport journeys”.
She added: “After the current consultation stage will be further development of the recommendations, providing more detailed business cases.
“These will inform the Scottish Government’s future spending as part of the overall investment programme in transport.”
