Long-awaited signs allowing Aberdeen taxi drivers access to a controversial bus gate should be installed by the end of the month.
There has been growing frustration among the ranks as councillors had originally agreed in principal to allow cabs through the Bedford Road bus gate in November 2017.
A public consultation was held into the proposed move in December, with no objections being received.
However, new signs, which are required to be put in place before taxis can gain access, have still not been installed.
It had initially been expected to open to taxis for the first time in April but the local authority has said it has been waiting for manufacturers to deliver the signs.
But an Aberdeen City Council spokesman has since revealed these will be erected by the end of June “at the latest”.
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Council transport spokesman Ross Grant said: “Clearly an instruction was given by committee to progress with the necessary process to enable taxis to pass through the bus gate.
“The due process has been carried out and it has been some time since that was completed and it is therefore essential that swift steps are taken to ensure the signage is in place as soon as possible.”
The move should speed up journeys and make parts of the city more easily accessible to taxis.
Bus gates – usually short sections of road – are commonly blocked to all traffic except buses, cycles and taxis, but the Bedford Road bus gate has, to date, restricted that even further.
Although it will open to taxis, it will not be open to private hire vehicles, which are booked in advance.
The gate was installed in May 2016 to stop drivers using Bedford Road as a through road after the Diamond Bridge opened.
It led to the road being closed between Meston Walk and Hermitage Avenue.
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