Traffic-free Union Street?
There is apparently strong support for a traffic
free Union Street, but how can it be achieved without disrupting traffic and
severing public transport routes. How about looking upward for a new public
transport solution?
Pedestrianising Union Street from Bridge Street to
Market Street has been a long-standing ambition for Aberdeen.
But, by its very structure, Aberdeen has a big problem with a lack of east/west alternative routes. This has come about because of the very reason Union Street was developed.
As anyone who has looked at the archways from the Green, Correction Wynd or Windmill Brae, Union Street is actually a bridge for most of its length. It was the visionary plan of Charles Abercrombie in 1796 to allow Aberdeen to expand to the west, by bridging high over the Denburn Valley. But, that means there are few other east-west city centre routes.
Close Union Street and where do you send the traffic? By Schoolhill? By Guild Street, already one of the most congested areas of town and set to become worse if the Union Square development happens?
Do you also divert the buses? If not, is the pedestrianisation of Union Street really valid? (No cars, but watch out for the buses. No noise, but for the buses. No fumes, but for the buses.)
Faced with a similar dilemma when closing off one of its main streets, Sydney went for an imaginative solution. They installed a monorail. This takes public transport to a new level, avoiding any conflict with pedestrians, junctions or traffic below. It also presents a modern image for the city and attracts users by its very novelty (how many people could resist using it?).
It also has the happy side benefit of bringing new life to first floor level. The Australian authorities have taken a novel approach of incorporating stations in the upper floors of buildings (the monorail trains divert into stations hidden behind the facade of the upper floors) bringing new economic value and much needed investment to these run-down sections of buildings.
How about a monorail loop from the station/Union Square up Bridge Street to Union Street, along to a main station in the St Nicholas Centre upper deck then round in front of Marischal College, to the tourist office, the beach, the harbour and back to the station?
Too ambitious? I'm glad no-one said that at the time Charles Abercrombie was touting his plans to build Union Street!
But, by its very structure, Aberdeen has a big problem with a lack of east/west alternative routes. This has come about because of the very reason Union Street was developed.
As anyone who has looked at the archways from the Green, Correction Wynd or Windmill Brae, Union Street is actually a bridge for most of its length. It was the visionary plan of Charles Abercrombie in 1796 to allow Aberdeen to expand to the west, by bridging high over the Denburn Valley. But, that means there are few other east-west city centre routes.
Close Union Street and where do you send the traffic? By Schoolhill? By Guild Street, already one of the most congested areas of town and set to become worse if the Union Square development happens?
Do you also divert the buses? If not, is the pedestrianisation of Union Street really valid? (No cars, but watch out for the buses. No noise, but for the buses. No fumes, but for the buses.)
Faced with a similar dilemma when closing off one of its main streets, Sydney went for an imaginative solution. They installed a monorail. This takes public transport to a new level, avoiding any conflict with pedestrians, junctions or traffic below. It also presents a modern image for the city and attracts users by its very novelty (how many people could resist using it?).
It also has the happy side benefit of bringing new life to first floor level. The Australian authorities have taken a novel approach of incorporating stations in the upper floors of buildings (the monorail trains divert into stations hidden behind the facade of the upper floors) bringing new economic value and much needed investment to these run-down sections of buildings.
How about a monorail loop from the station/Union Square up Bridge Street to Union Street, along to a main station in the St Nicholas Centre upper deck then round in front of Marischal College, to the tourist office, the beach, the harbour and back to the station?
Too ambitious? I'm glad no-one said that at the time Charles Abercrombie was touting his plans to build Union Street!
Posted: Fri - October 24, 2003 at 02:14 PM
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Published On: May 17, 2007 01:49 PM
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Published On: May 17, 2007 01:49 PM