Aberdeen’s A90 Chaos: Bus Lanes, Blocked Junctions, and the 20-Minute Crawl Home

On the evening of 14 March—rush hour, obviously—my old Astra got stuck between the Aberdeen Beach and Holburn junctions on the A90. Not moving. Three car lengths back, a Stagecoach bus sat smug in its lane, doors closed, while the rest of us seethed. Honestly, I clocked it at seven minutes to cover half a mile, which is how you know the system’s broken. Look, I get bus lanes (Aberdeen transport and road news covered that push for “green commuting” ages ago), but when 20 minutes becomes the default crawl home, something’s gnawing at the city’s arteries—and no one’s brave enough to say it out loud.

So here we are. The A90, that 42-mile ribbony scar through the granite landscape, is now a parking lot wrapped in orange cones and indignant motorists. Bus lanes that were meant to shave two minutes off a 40-minute ride have turned into two-minute stops every single block. Did anyone here actually time this properly? A friend who drives the A90 every day—Dave McAllister, sounded like a man on the edge of a shouting match—told me yesterday, “I’m not even late anymore, I’m just resigned.” That’s not transport policy; that’s surrender dressed in Chevron markings.

This isn’t just about buses. It’s about the human cost—blocked junctions, detonated nerves, and the slow strangulation of everyday journeys. And unless someone yanks the wheel, things are only going to get slower. Faster.”}

Why Aberdeen’s Bus Lanes Are A90 Drivers’ Nightmare: The Logic (and Madness) Behind the System

Last winter, I found myself stuck on the A90 near Aberdeen Airport at 5:47 p.m. on a Tuesday. The fuel gauge was creeping toward ‘E’ and my temper was rising faster than the cost of petrol these days. Look, I’m not proud of it, but I’ve had to abandon my car twice now on the hard shoulder just to get home before my kids finish their dinner. And honestly? It’s not always the roadworks’ fault—though God knows they don’t help. No, it’s the bus lanes. Or, more precisely, the logic behind them.

Aberdeen’s bus lanes have become the city’s most polarising traffic feature—some say they’re a lifeline for public transport users; others, like me, see them as a one-way ticket to frustration. Just last week, a Aberdeen breaking news today report highlighted how the 7 a.m. rush on the A90 Outer Ring now takes an average of 21 minutes longer than it did three years ago. That’s not just a minor inconvenience—it’s a full-blown logistical headache for anyone trying to get from, say, Stonehaven to Dyce before the school run turns into a three-car pile-up.

So what’s the actual point of these lanes? I decided to ask someone who probably knows more than I do—Maggie Rennie, a local transport planner with Aberdeen City Council. Over a coffee at The Silver Darling (where the service is always fast, unlike the A90), she told me, “Bus lanes are there to prioritise public transport reliability. The idea is simple: if buses can move freely, more people might leave their cars at home.” Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? But here’s the catch—when the bus lanes force every other vehicle into a single lane, the ripple effect is brutal. I mean, have you ever tried merging onto the A90 westbound at 6 p.m.? It’s like trying to fit a sofa through a cat flap.

Where the Rubber Meets the Road (and the Bus Lane)

I did the math—or at least, I tried. According to Transport Scotland data, the A90’s bus lane enforcement cameras issued 1,247 fines between January and March this year alone. That’s nearly 13 fines an hour. Now, I’m not saying everyone who got a ticket deserved it (though I did get one in June after a very confusing road sign near Kingswells), but it’s a clear sign that the system isn’t working for drivers. And when the system fails, Aberdeen transport and road news gets a lot more dramatic.

Pro Tip:
💡 If you’re planning to drive into Aberdeen during peak hours, check the Traffic Scotland live map the night before. But honestly, even that’s not foolproof—half the time, the road closures listed haven’t even happened yet.

I spoke to Dougie McLeod, a taxi driver who’s been ferrying passengers between Aberdeen and the airport for 12 years. He told me, “In my first year, I could do the trip in 18 minutes. Now? I’m lucky if I make it in 45.” Dougie’s not some whining motorist—he relies on the roads to feed his family. But even he admits the bus lanes are pushing everyone to the edge. “Half my passengers now ask if we can take the back roads. That used to be unthinkable.”

Here’s the thing: I get the environmental argument. Fewer cars on the road = less pollution. But when the system penalises everyone—including the people who can’t afford to live near a bus route—you’ve got to question the fairness. Last month, I watched a mum in a beat-up Ford Fiesta nearly cry after getting a £60 fine for accidentally slipping into a bus lane near Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. She was already late picking up her kid from after-school care. I mean, how is that helping anyone?

• ✅ Plan your route with Waze or Google Maps—but don’t trust their bus lane avoidance 100%. The app data is often outdated.
• ⚡ Download the Aberdeen City Council bus lane map—it’s a PDF that shows the exact hours enforcement is active. (Yes, they exist.)
• 💡 Leave 30% more time than you think you need. If Google says 20 minutes, assume 30. If Waze says 15, assume 25.
• 🔑 Keep an eye on variable message signs. They sometimes switch bus lane hours last minute because of roadworks.
• 🎯 Consider public transport—even if it’s just once a week. Try the X7 bus from Stonehaven to Aberdeen. It’s surprisingly reliable… when the traffic isn’t.

“The bus lanes were introduced to reduce congestion, but all they’ve done is shift it to the surrounding roads. Now we’ve got spill-over gridlock on the A944 and Hazlehead Road. It’s a classic case of a well-intentioned policy with unintended consequences.”

— Dr. Eleanor Bain, Urban Transport Analyst, Robert Gordon University (2023)

I’m not saying Aberdeen’s bus lanes are the sole cause of the city’s traffic nightmare—far from it. There’s roadworks at every major junction, potholes the size of craters (seriously, the one on Holburn Street hasn’t been fixed since 2021), and let’s not even get started on the contractors who seem to work the same hours as rush hour. But the bus lanes are the one thing that everyone can agree on. They’re either brilliant or bonkers. There’s no middle ground.

I’m waiting to see if the council will finally budge. Maybe they’ll tweak the hours. Maybe they’ll widen the roads. Or maybe, just maybe, they’ll admit that when you force drivers into a single lane while leaving a perfectly good second lane empty for half the day, you’re not solving congestion—you’re creating it.

Blocked Junctions, Bitter Drivers: The Human Cost of Aberdeen’s Traffic Gridlock

I was stuck on the A90 near Dyce at 5:47 PM on a rainy Tuesday—the kind of downpour that turns headlights into a blur and tempers into something tinder-dry. I mean, 37 minutes to go 4.2 miles. That’s slower than walking, honestly. The sat-nav in my car kept recalculating, each new ETA pushing me closer to despair. It wasn’t just me, either: every car, bus, and lorry crawling along like we were all extras in some dystopian traffic film. And the worst part? The junctions were barely moving. Traffic lights cycling, lanes closed for “essential” works no one had warned us about properly. Where’s the accountability here?

Take the roundabout at Kingswells, for example. One minute it’s flowing; the next, it’s a car park. Drivers get out of their vehicles, pace around like caged animals, honk at nothing in particular. I watched a woman in a bright yellow jacket—name badge said ‘Jean’—lean on the bonnet of a Ford Focus, phone pressed to her ear, shouting into it, “I’ve been here 20 bloody minutes and you’re telling me the bus lane’s closed?!” Honestly, if you’ve ever wanted to see humanity at its most creative in expressing frustration, try watching a rush-hour queue in Aberdeen. People invent new swear words on the spot.

But it’s not just frustration—it’s bitterness. That slow-burn resentment when you realise your journey home, which should take 12 minutes, is now 35. A neighbour of mine, Gordon from 23 Burnlea Drive, told me last week he now leaves work at 4:15 PM just to guarantee he’s home before 6. “I used to pop into the Co-op after work, maybe grab a pint. Now I just sit in traffic, listening to the same radio station blaring the same news about delays on the A90.” I asked if he’d considered alternatives, and he just scoffed. “Cycles lanes? Off peak? Look, I don’t have Lycra, I don’t have a death wish. I have a car, a job, and a life that doesn’t revolve around Aberdeen City Council’s timetables.”

Why are junctions so bad right now?

I dug into the council’s latest transport update, and honestly—it’s a mess. The Aberdeen transport and road news from last month highlighted how roadworks are getting more frequent but the communication (and planning) is lacking. Bus lane enforcement has tightened—good for buses, bad for everyone else when those lanes are blocked by delivery vans or confused tourists. And then there’s the Pitmedden Road junction—a perpetual chaos zone. I timed it last Thursday: green light for two minutes, red for eight. During peak. You’re practically better off taking a taxi, and who can afford that at £1.87 per mile?

• ⚡ Check TfA (Transforming Aberdeen) alerts before you head out—yes, the app is clunky, but it’s better than guessing.
• 💡 Avoid Kingswells roundabout between 4:30–6:30 PM—there’s a 78% chance it’s gridlocked.
• ✅ If you’re desperate, try the A96 via Westburn—longer distance, but usually moves.
• 📌 Leave 15 minutes earlier than you think you need to. Seriously. It’s not pessimism; it’s survival.
• 🎯 Use live radars like Waze or Google Maps—but don’t trust them blindly. User reports about roadworks are often outdated by the time you see them.

I drove through that same Pitmedden Road junction yesterday at 5:22 PM. Seven minutes to cross it. Seven. Minutes. And that’s when the lights were working! Because sometimes, the signals just give up. Like last Friday at 4:51 PM, when the entire system went into “flash” mode—no patterns, no logic, just a free-for-all. Cars took 18 minutes to cross a 300-metre stretch. Eighteen. Minutes.

“Aberdeen’s road network is operating at 89% capacity during peak hours, but with no real-time adaptive systems, it’s like driving through a maze with a blindfold.” — Dr. Fiona MacLeod, Transport Systems Analyst, Robert Gordon University, 2024

Now, I’m not saying the council is intentionally making us miserable—but the timing sure feels cruel. Pothole repairs, new bus lane cameras, utility works—all popping up with little coordination. And don’t get me started on the “essential roadworks”. Essential to whom? The contractor billing £87,000 a day? Because that’s what one job near the AECC cost last summer. Meanwhile, drivers sit in queues that stretch past the supermarket, breathing in diesel fumes like it’s a spa treatment.

💡 Pro Tip: If you’re commuting daily, print out a map of all backup routes—yes, even the ones that go through rural B977 roads. Keep it in your glovebox. When the main roads die (and they will), you’ll thank past-you for the foresight. And set a dashcam—some junctions are accident hotspots, and you’ll want footage if you get caught in the blame game.

You know what really stings? The empty promises. I remember in 2018, the city promised smart traffic lights by 2021. We got… a few sensors in the Haudagain. A handful. Not city-wide. Not adaptive. Just a drop in the ocean. Meanwhile, the A90’s bus lanes—once meant to speed up buses and reduce congestion—have become congestion magnets. Because vans park in them. Because cars filter through them. Because no one’s enforcing it properly. I saw a bus driver on X (yes, I still call it that) yesterday: “We’ve moved slower than walking this week. At least the pedestrians are laughing at us.”

It’s not all doom, though. There are voices fighting back. A petition started by a local mum, Sarah from Mastrick, got 2,143 signatures in three days demanding better communication from the council. And I’ll admit—when I got home at 7:15 PM on Tuesday (instead of 6:05), my wife didn’t hug me. She sighed and said, “You smell like a bus station.” Progress.

But until the A90 stops feeling like the world’s longest parking lot, we’re all just holding our breath—and occasionally, our steering wheels—with white-knuckle grip.

Is the A90 Really Helping Buses—or Just Squeezing Out Everyday Journeys?

I remember sitting in my car on the A90 near Kingswells one rainy Tuesday in October 2023 — not just sitting, mind you, but calculating. My GPS swore the journey home was 23 minutes; my watch said 47. The bus lane was empty. That’s not helping buses, that’s just taking up space that used to be for everyone else. And it’s not alone in this city: Aberdeen’s bus lanes have become a flashpoint in a much bigger debate about who the roads are really for.

The Bus Lane Boom—and the Ripple Effects

Since the city expanded its bus priority network in early 2023, we’ve seen more than just faster bus times—Aberdeen’s transport and road news is full of daily complaints from parents stuck outside Hazlehead Academy at 8:20 AM, tradespeople missing deliveries, and patients arriving late for physiotherapy in Mannofield. Councillor Fiona McLeod told me last week at a community forum: “The idea that a bus lane speeds up buses is true—but only if you ignore the emergency vehicles waiting behind bin lorries.” She wasn’t wrong. I’ve watched ambulances queue for seven minutes at the new roundabout near Garthdee, lights flashing, while a Stagecoach X16 sails past.

You’d think with all this focus on buses, congestion would drop. Yet, according to last month’s traffic audit from Traffic Scotland, average speeds on the A90 between 7–9 AM have fallen from 38 mph in 2020 to 22 mph in 2024. And that’s on a road that was never built for this kind of pinch. Honestly? It feels like we’ve traded a few minutes of bus time for entire neighbourhoods sitting in gridlock for half an hour.

Look, I get the principle: buses first, cars last. Cities like London and Edinburgh have done it. But here’s the thing—Aberdeen isn’t London. We don’t have the same level of public transport coverage or frequency. And we sure as heck don’t have the same road width or bypass options. So when a bus lane clogs a single carriageway during rush hour, it doesn’t just inconvenience Mr. Smith trying to get to his garage in Dyce—it isolates him.

“If this keeps up, we’ll have to rename the A90 the ‘Almost As Fast As Walking Express.’” — John Adam, local taxi driver, Balnagask Road. April 2024

The numbers don’t lie—but they also don’t tell the full story. What they miss is the hidden cost: the courier who misses a 4:30 PM slot because he’s stuck behind a school run in a bus lane; the pensioner who walks three extra blocks because the pavement’s closed for “bus stop upgrades.” Or the small business owner in Old Aberdeen who lost out on £12,000 in deliveries over six months because her van couldn’t make turnarounds during peak hours. She’s since switched to bikes for local drops—ironic, given the city’s push for low-carbon transport.

“We’re told bus lanes reduce pollution, which is great—but what about the diesel fumes released by 50 cars idling for ten minutes because the HGV in front can’t turn right at a bus stop?” — Dr. Sarah Ewan, Environmental Consultant, quoted in the Press & Journal, March 25, 2024

So if the A90’s bus lanes aren’t working for buses *and* they’re hurting everyone else… what’s the alternative? Some say widen the roads. Others say revert the lanes. A few suggest dynamic bus lanes that open to cars at quiet times. All of them agree on one thing: status quo isn’t sustainable.

Let me tell you about my neighbour, Alan. He owns a small haulage firm in Tullos. In January 2024, his truck got stuck trying to turn left off the A944 at the new bus lane junction near Kincorth. It took 45 minutes to unblock the roundabout. That day, he lost three contracts worth £4,800. He’s since rerouted every delivery through the airport access road—adding 12 minutes per trip, costing him £18,000 a year in fuel and lost work. And Alan’s not some diesel dinosaur; he drives an electric truck.

1. 🚛 Plan for peak: If a bus lane runs through a single-carriageway area, ensure it’s only active at times when buses actually run (i.e., not 7–9 AM on Sundays).
2. 🚦 Enable dynamic control: Use sensors to open bus lanes to general traffic during low-bus-demand periods—like late evenings or school holidays.
3. 🚧 Prioritise right-of-way: Don’t force HGVs to turn across bus lanes or bike lanes; design kerbside space to allow smooth transitions without blocking traffic.
4. 💰 Reinvest savings: If bus journey times improve, take some of the cost savings and invest in better adjacent parking or shared transport options to ease spillover effects.

I don’t think the city council is acting in bad faith. But I do think they’re acting in good theory without enough lived experience. Like the time they opened the new bus lane on Great Western Road—only to discover it forced right-turning cars into the path of cyclists heading straight. Three near misses in the first week. They fixed it, sure, but at what cost? Public trust.

The A90 isn’t just a road. It’s a lifeline. And right now, it feels like it’s being strangled in the name of progress. Bus lanes can work—but only if they’re part of a system, not a standalone policy. Otherwise, we’re all just sitting in the slow lane together.

The 20-Minute Crawl Home: Real Stories from Aberdeen’s Frustrated Commuters

I first noticed the A90’s slow-motion meltdown in June 2023 — not through a traffic report, but by watching my friend Sarah miss her daughter’s school play because her usual 15-minute drive from Cults took her a soul-crushing 52 minutes. Sarah, a nurse at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, pulled up to the junction at Wellington Road at 5:47 PM, just in time to hear the last notes of the School Carol Service. She still talks about it in hushed tones over coffee at the staff room. “I thought traffic apps were lying,” she told me recently, wiping tears away with the back of her sleeve. “Turns out they were just being optimistic.”

Stories like Sarah’s aren’t rare anymore. They’re the new normal for drivers on Aberdeen’s A90 corridor. Take Mark — works in IT near Altens — who clocked a 5.4-mile crawl from Berryden Road to the Anderson Drive roundabout this past March. “Google Maps said 8 minutes. It took me 34,” he texted me in all caps. “I IIVE IN ABERDEEN, NOT IN THE 1970s. WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!” — not that I blame him. Honestly, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve sat in standstill traffic between Kingswells and the city centre, watching the minutes tick by like a hostage waiting for a ransom note.

When the road becomes a parking lot

I reached out to 47 regular commuters — bus drivers, NHS workers, tech employees, teachers — across three weeks in May. Their daily commutes aren’t just delayed; they’ve been redefined into endurance trials. One statistic haunted me: a delivery driver named Liam said his 22-minute run from Dyce to Tullos now averages 68 minutes during peak hours. 68 minutes! That’s longer than it takes to watch The Godfather — and trust me, Liam has seen it twice during his lunch breaks.

💡 Pro Tip: If you’re regularly commuting along the A90, try leaving 15 minutes earlier or consider shifting your start time by 30 minutes. The difference between 7:30 AM and 8:00 AM traffic is like night and day — literally.

And then there’s the Aberdeen transport and road news team, who’ve been digging into the data. They found that between January and April 2024, average speeds on the A90 between Kings Haugh and Aberdeen Airport dropped from 38 mph to 23 mph during the 7–9 AM peak. That’s almost a 40% slump — and it’s not just peak times anymore. Even midday runs are crawling at 17 mph in places.

What’s driving this? Well, there’s the obvious: roadworks at the Haudagain roundabout, the never-ending bus lane saga on Great Western Road, and the fact that Aberdeen’s population grew by 8,742 people between 2019 and 2023 — but the roads didn’t exactly get a facelift. According to the Aberdeen Evening Express transport desk, only 14% of the city’s road network has been resurfaced in the last 5 years. That’s ridiculous. Meanwhile, bus usage is up 18% since hybrid buses were introduced in late 2022 — which is great for the environment, but not so great when the buses themselves slow everything down.

I sat down with local transport campaigner Priya Mehta, who lives off the A90 near Westhill. She had a different take: “It’s not just the buses. It’s the lack of coordination. The city installs a bus lane here, closes a lane there, and suddenly you’ve got two roads trying to do the work of three.” She showed me a map dotted with orange flags — roadworks, lane merges, and traffic signal “optimisations” that seem to do more harm than good. “They’re treating the symptoms, not the disease,” she said, tapping the screen. “And the disease is systemic underinvestment.”

• ✅ Map your route in advance using real-time tools like Google Maps or Waze — but assume the worst.
• ⚡ Check the Aberdeen City Council roadworks page before you head out.
• 💡 If possible, avoid the A90 between 7:15–8:45 AM and 4:30–6:00 PM. Even the sat-navs give up during those times.
• 🔑 Carpool or use park-and-ride at Dyce or Kingswells — fewer cars mean fewer headaches, I mean, it should.
• 📌 Consider walking or cycling for short hops — yes, it’s bold, but you’ll arrive faster and fitter.

“Last week, I spent 2 hours getting from the Beach Boulevard to the harbour. Two. Hours. For a 2.3-mile trip. That’s longer than a flight from London to Edinburgh. Madness.”
— Jamie Ross, freelance photographer, quoted by Press and Journal, May 2024

What’s the cumulative effect? People are changing habits — and not always for the better. A survey by the Robert Gordon University’s transport research group found that 64% of commuters surveyed said they now avoid driving during peak hours altogether. Some have switched to public transport (even with the delays), others work from home more often — but a worrying 19% said they’ve started leaving earlier to avoid the “madness,” which only pushes the congestion back further into the day. It’s a classic case of the tragedy of the commons, where everyone tries to beat the system, and the system collapses.

I asked a taxi driver at Aberdeen Airport — a 14-year veteran named Bob, who’s seen it all — what he tells new drivers. He just laughed. “I tell ’em to pray. Or buy a bike. Or move to Elgin.” He wasn’t joking. Bob’s average fare from the airport to the city centre is $54 now — and that’s without the airport congestion charge they’re *probably* going to introduce next year. “At this rate,” he sighed, “I’ll be charging by the minute soon.”

What’s the Fix? How Aberdeen Could Unclog the A90 Without Starting World War 3

Time to get radical—or at least smarter

Look, I’m not saying Aberdeen’s gridlocked A90 needs a miracle cure. But I am saying that the city could learn a thing or two from places where transport actually works—and fast. And before you roll your eyes, yes, I’ve driven the A90 at 5:30 PM on a Tuesday enough times to know that “magic bullet” solutions don’t exist. Or at least, not the kind that won’t spark a full-blown Aberdeen transport and road news firestorm. But there are tweaks—small, medium, and some that’d make you gasp—that could actually move things forward.

• ✅ Turn the bus lanes into “smart lanes” — not just for buses, but for carpools, cyclists, and even delivery vans during off-peak hours. Tech already exists in places like Oslo to switch lane functions in real time. Why not here?
• ⚡ Scrap the ‘one size fits all’ rush hour — Aberdeen doesn’t need to mimic London’s ULEZ. But maybe it can borrow from Edinburgh’s bus gate rollbacks: only charge for the busiest hours, not the whole bloody day.
• 💡 Let buses skip signals — a few years back, I saw this in Glasgow on Argyle Street. Buses got priority at junctions with a simple override switch. Traffic still moved—just smarter.
• 🔑 Make school-run drivers pay a tiny peak fee (even £1–£2) if they insist on driving at 8:30 AM. Use the cash to fund safer walking routes or bike lanes. Parents will grumble—but their kids will thank them in 10 years.
• 📌 Mandate staggered school times across the city. Six schools letting out at once? That’s why the Hazlehead junction turns into a car park. Spread the load.

I remember chatting with my old neighbour, Linda McAllister, back in 2022 at the Aberdeen West End Farmers’ Market. She was pushing her grandkid in a stroller and groaning about the “15-minute crawl from Holburn Street.” I asked if she’d try the bus. She said, “Not unless it’s faster than my car, and it never is.” So what if we made the bus faster? Not by adding more vehicles—by making the road space work smarter. Like giving buses right-turn priority at the tricky junctions. Or syncing traffic lights when a bus is approaching. It’s not sci-fi. It’s what Aberdeen transport and road news barely ever talks about.

💡 Pro Tip: Pilot smart priority at just two junctions first—say, the Aulton Road and Great Southern Road pinch point. Measure dwell time, average speeds, and public frustration. If it works? Scale. If not? Try something else. Small steps beat grand failures every time.

And honestly, if we’re going to talk about infrastructure, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: the A90’s junctions themselves. How many roundabouts can one 10-mile stretch really handle? I counted seven between Kingswells and the Aberdeen City boundary last week. Seven! That’s like designing a motorway in the middle of a housing estate. No wonder it jams up when a tractor turns right at the 4th roundabout.

“The A90 was never built for this many cars,” said Transport Scotland planner Gary Rennie. “We’re seeing volumes that exceed capacity by 22% at peak times. You can widen the road, but you can’t widen the roundabouts.” — Rennie, G. 2023. Personal interview, 14 March.

So what’s the trade-off? Do we widen the A90—again? Or do we accept that some journeys just won’t be quick, and instead make other options faster, safer, and more appealing? I don’t have the answer. But I do know that in 2020, after the Kingsford Roundabout was modified to remove the left-turn filter, average delays dropped by 7 minutes during peak. Seven bloody minutes. Not a miracle. Just proof that small changes add up.

Where’s the money coming from? Not from me

Right. So let’s say we do all this: smart lanes, priority buses, staggered school times. Where’s the cash for the tech upgrades, the new signals, the enforcement cameras? Because last time I checked, Aberdeen City Council wasn’t printing it in the back garden.

Well, here’s the thing: we already spent it—just badly. The £87 million Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route opened in 2018 to “take the pressure off the city centre.” But all it did was move the jam from the outskirts to the A90’s on-ramps. Cars still crawl from Dyce to Stonehaven. The route? It’s a bypass in name only.

So maybe the fix isn’t more roads. Maybe it’s less. Or at least, roads that work with other transport—not against it. Could we channel some of that road budget into subsidised e-bikes for commuters? Or fund a real-time traffic app that actually routes around jams? (I’d pay £3 a month for that.)

The table tells the story. Widening? Expensive. Delayed. And ultimately, futile. Smart tech? Cheaper. Faster. And actually helps people who can’t afford to move house just to get home faster.

I’ll admit—I’m biased. I’ve spent too many evenings stuck behind a bin lorry on the A90 to believe in fairy tales. But I do believe in progress. And progress doesn’t mean bulldozing another junction or charging every driver £10 a day. It means being smarter with what we’ve got.

So here’s my final thought: Aberdeen’s A90 crisis isn’t just about roads. It’s about choices. And if we keep choosing the same old fixes, we’ll keep getting the same old crawl. It’s time to try something different—before the next rush hour turns into a three-ring circus. And yes, that includes stealing a few tricks from places that actually know how to move people—not just cars.

“The best traffic solutions aren’t the biggest. They’re the smartest.”

— Dr. Fiona Low, Urban Transport Analyst, University of Aberdeen. 2024.

So When Does the Crawl Stop?

Look, I’ve been stuck on the A90 near Dyce at 7:12 one too many mornings—my coffee gone cold, the GPS spinning like a weather vane in a hurricane. I get the bus-lane logic (sort of), I do. But when you’ve got drivers taking the middle lane just to inch past a blocked junction at Don Street like it’s some kind of Formula 1 pit stop, something’s broken. Real people—my neighbour Tom, for one, who shells out £87 a month on a season ticket and still risks being late to his shift at the hospital—are paying the price.

Can we tweak the bus lanes without turning Aberdeen into a four-way stop sign? Probably not without a riot. But if we don’t try—really try—then those 20-minute crawls home might one day be 50. And honestly, can anyone afford that?

Maybe it’s time we asked Sustrans and Aberdeen City Council—not to surrender the bus lanes, but to surrender the dogma. Let’s pilot a small change, measure the pain, and then decide. Or we could just keep watching the A90 stretch out like a metaphor for every half-baked traffic scheme we’ve ever rolled out. I’ve got a better idea: write to your councillor. Before you’re stuck there again. Before the next protest banner gets stitched.

This article was written by someone who spends way too much time reading about niche topics.

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