Arbroath active travel scheme set for green light as cost jumps to more than £14m

Active travel charity Sustrans has said it will plug the funding gap in A Place for Everyone after costs for the Arbroath project rose 10%.

By Graham Brown

October 15 2023, 10:00am

Green space and cycle lanes are a key feature of A Place for Everyone in Arbroath. Image: Angus Council

Arbroath’s ambitious – and controversial – active travel vision is facing a £1.3 million cost hike.

But Angus Council will not have to foot the bill for the jump to more than £14m.

And the project to transform the A92 running through the town could be underway early in the new year.

Arbroath for Everyone — A trial run of how the scheme might look was held in 2021. Image: Paul Reid

A milestone update for A Place to Everyone will be delivered to Angus councillors at a special meeting on Thursday.

They will be asked to fire the start gun on the scheme to have it in place for summer 2025.

It comes after the council’s own officials recently refused to give Place-based Investment Fund cash to the project because of “funding uncertainties”.

Four years since windfall announcement

In 2019, Arbroath was announced as the biggest winner in a Sustrans-led active travel bonanza.

The charity promised £9m for the scheme to redraw how the A92 from Gayfield to Guthrie Port is used.

But plans to reduce the dual carriageway to single lane met a mixed response.

The new cost of the scheme is £14.4m.

Sustrans has agreed to fund the additional £1.3m.

If councillors give the green light to the scheme this week, work on the 19-month project will begin in January 2024.

Consultation data

Council chiefs say their consultation on the project has brought an overwhelmingly positive response.

They say there has been almost 1,300 pieces of separate feedback.

But just 200 people viewed a video fly-through of the design in 18 months.

And it has emerged that there were less than 100 responses to some elements of the online and in-person consultation.

The data includes:

298 responses to the online street trial survey
325 comments and suggestions on the street trial via the online consultation hub
51 feedback forms on the concept design
61 pieces of feedback at harbour drop-in event
111 online survey responses on the design development

Council officials say the feedback indicates:

90% of consultees live in Arbroath
88% liked the design
90% believe the design would improve accessibility for people of all abilities
84% believe the design would improve safety
90% agreed the design has sufficient space dedicated to walking and cycling infrastructure
89% agreed the design makes it easier to cross the road on foot
89% agreed the crossing points are in suitable locations
89% agreed the design improves green space and the appearance of the area.

Local economy boost

Contractor Balfour Beatty have targets of 20-40% local labour and a 40-60% spend on local sub-contactors – worth £2m to the Angus economy.

Council leader Beth Whiteside said: “Arbroath, A Place For Everyone is exactly what we are aspiring to achieve through this project.

“We want the town to flourish and be a place where people want to live, work and visit.

“While council funds are extremely tight, we have to continue to be bold and ambitious and to invest in the future of Angus.

“We are leveraging a huge amount of funding for Arbroath which could be a catalyst for even more investment in the future.

“We have listened and acted on the views and aspirations of the people of Arbroath and have worked tirelessly so we can now bring to reality this genuinely transformational project.”