Getting around Braemar Village Centre

The online survey is now closed. This project is currently in progress and we will be working with key stakeholders in the community to develop the designs in late Spring 2025. Feedback from the previous engagement can be found below.

Project Overview
Aberdeenshire Council and Cairngorm National Park Authority (CNPA) are working together to make Braemar Village Centre more walking, cycling and wheelchair accessible. This is part of a wider project where the long-term vision is to make it easy and safe for residents and visitors to get around in the communities of the National Park without a vehicle through improving infrastructure and public spaces.

CNPA, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Sustrans Places for Everyone, developed a set of proposals to concept design stage for Braemar following a village wide audit of active travel provision in 2022. This work has included technical audits and the consideration of ideas and comments from many local residents and stakeholders. Aberdeenshire Council contributed to the project designs which you can view under the documents panel. Residents and visitors provided their feedback and suggestions for how best to support walking and cycling in and around Braemar via an online survey and drop-in community event in May 2024.This feedback is below.

Community feedback - initial proposals May 2024

We asked

Aberdeenshire Council asked the community of Braemar for their feedback on a concept design to improve the village centre for people walking, wheeling and cycling. The projects aims to make it easier and safer for people to get around Braemar while also creating a more pleasant environment.

Residents were given the opportunity to provide feedback at a community drop-in event hosted by Cairngorm National Park Authority on 1^st May in the Village Hall. An online survey was open for public feedback from 24^th April to 16^th May 2024. We asked about support for the proposals, feedback on specific interventions and thoughts on tackling congestion and problem parking.

You said

Support for the proposals was split, however we found that those who disagreed had done so on the belief that the current proposals would not be effective without yellow lines rather than disagreement with the whole concept. There was a lot of support for improving footways for people walking and wheeling and a general agreement that traffic calming measures to lower traffic speed was required. However, several people expressed concern with the proposed chicane as a traffic control measure. Lowering the speed limit throughout the village was a common suggestion.

Tackling problem parking was a key theme. The residents identified the Fife Arms Hotel and the bridge as particular problem areas. Concerns were raised about the proposed bus stop at the Mews due to congestion in this area. Locals identified the need for a safe crossing across the A93 to the Primary School and suggested extending the pavement in the village along the Linn of Dee road to provide access to wider walking routes.

We will

As a result of the engagement, we will incorporate the following changes into the next stage of project development:

• A new zebra crossing across the A93. We will explore possibility of widening the current footway from the corner up to the new crossing point to improve route to school.
• Remove proposed bus stop from outside the front of the Mews.
• Remove existing bus stops from outside the Co-op and Kindrochit Crescent.
• Create new bus stop closer to A93 along Invercauld Rd. This would mean there would be one bus stop at A93 end and the existing bus stop at the junction connecting Mar Road to the Games Pavillion.
• Proposed traffic calming chicane positioned outside Village Hall to be removed.
• This chicane is to be replaced with a proposed speed table to aid pedestrian access to the Village Hall.
• The proposed footway widening into Fife Brae at the shop has been removed to ensure lorries can still reverse into this area to serve the shop.

We will proceed with plans to narrow the roads to allow the creation of wider footpaths and will explore the option of adding double yellow lines to prevent problem parking along Invercauld Road/ Mar Road. In addition to this we will explore options to extend footways out to Linn of Dee Road to join into the River Dee Walk. We will also explore the option of an additional footpath through the forest which would link the showground carpark to Kindrochit Crescent as part of a separate project. At this stage, the proposal is still a concept and is subject to further consultation, design development and permissions.