Solutions for the notorious Haudagain junction of three trunk roads and the main route into Aberdeen are due to be reported on by the autumn, I understand. But, whatever suggestion they come up with, it is unlikely that we will see any improvements until 2009 at the earliest.
That's £30 to £60 million of a loss to the local economy if you believe the figures from the Institute of Directors that the current congestion is costing between £15 and £30 million each year.
The three front runners include two with a link road through Middlefield and one with a slightly enlarged roundabout and dualling of Muggiemoss Road.
I have yet to meet anyone who understands how putting an extra road through Middlefield and adding two new junctions with traffic lights can do anything but make the current congestion even worse! No one has been able to give me any insight into this extraordinary idea.
As far as I can make out the Middlefield link is the result of a muddled brief for the project. It appears that it is intended to be:

• part traffic improvement

• part regeneration for Middlefield.

1. The answer to the first is a properly engineered junction that allows two lanes of traffic flow on each of the main traffic routes.

2. The answer to the second is to lift the traffic blight that ensures that no person in their right mind goes anywhere near Middlefield, for fear they can't get back because of the traffic. Free up the traffic and the regeneration will be at least part of the way there!

• losing millions of pounds each year in delays

• blighting the Middlefield area with congestion and traffic fumes

• and diverting huge amounts of business away from Aberdeen