The A90 road is a major north-to-south road in eastern

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, running from

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Fraserburgh Fraserburgh (; ), locally known as the Broch, is a town in Aberdeenshire (unitary), Aberdeenshire, Scotland, with a population recorded in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census as 13,100. It lies in Buchan in the northeastern corner of th ...

, through

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

and

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. Along with the A9 and the A82 it is one of the three major north–south trunk roads connecting the

Central Belt The Central Belt of Scotland is the Demographics of Scotland, area of highest population density within Scotland. Depending on the definition used, it has a population of between 2.4 and 4.2 million (the country's total was around 5.4 million in ...

to northern destinations. The A90 is not continuous: there is a gap between Dalmeny and Perth, but the M90 connects those two places.

Background

The creation and development of the A90 road has to be understood in terms of the development of the economy of the North-East of Scotland, which had resulted in an increase in traffic along the route between Perth and Aberdeen. In recognition of this, in 1979, the British government announced that it was giving priority to the upgrading of the route to dual carriageway standard. It had already been decided that the trunk route between Dundee and Stonehaven, which had previously followed the same route as the railway line between the two towns, would now follow an inland route through Forfar and Laurencekirk. The new route would incorporate the A85 from Perth to Dundee, the A929 between Dundee and Forfar, the A94 between Forfar and Stonehaven, and the A92 from Stonehaven to Aberdeen; in 1994, the confusion of numbers was resolved with the renumbering of these roads and the creation of the A90 (M90) Edinburgh to Aberdeen trunk road. The coastal route from Dundee to Stonehaven was detrunked in 1978, at the same time as the inland route was trunked.

History

In 1994, it was stated that £139 million had been spent since 1979 on upgrades to the then-A90 between Perth and Aberdeen (the section between Stonehaven and Aberdeen has since become part of the A92). A grade-separated junction at

Longforgan Longforgan is a village and parish in the Carse of Gowrie, in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It lies west of Dundee on the main A90 road. History A record survives of Sir Patrick Gray, as Baron of Longforgan, holding a baronial court here in 138 ...

was opened in 1996. The section of the A90 between Balmedie and Tipperty was upgraded to dual carriageway in 2018. On 3 September 2018, the former section of the A90 between

Stonehaven Stonehaven ( ) is a town on the northeast coast of Scotland, south of Aberdeen. It had a population of 11,177 at th2022 Census Stonehaven was formerly the county town of Kincardineshire, succeeding the now abandoned town of Kincardine, Aberd ...

and Blackdog was renumbered A92 in preparation for the opening of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, which became the new route of the A90.

Route

From Edinburgh, the A90 travels west and connects to the

M90 motorway The M90 is a controlled-access highway, motorway in Scotland. It runs from Junction 1A of the M9 motorway (Scotland), M9 motorway, south of the Queensferry Crossing, to Perth, Scotland, Perth. It is the northernmost motorway in the United Kin ...

bypass route that leads to the M9: however, it is only possible to travel northbound when reaching this connection. After connecting with the M90, it runs as a short section of A-road before turning into the M90 properly at the Queensferry Crossing. At

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, beneath Kinnoull Hill, the M90 again becomes the A90, now running north east to

and through the Kingsway road system. It then passes

Forfar Forfar (; , ) is the county town of Angus, Scotland, and the administrative centre for Angus Council, with a new multi-million-pound office complex located on the outskirts of the town. As of 2021, the town had a population of 16,280. The town ...

Brechin Brechin (; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. Traditionally Brechin was described as a city because of its cathedral and its status as the seat of a pre-Scottish Reformation, Reformation Roman Catholic diocese (which contin ...

and

Stracathro Stracathro () is a small place in Angus, Scotland. It was the site of a Roman camp, Roman marching camp as their forces invaded to the north. Location Stracathro is located southeast of Edzell in north-east Angus. It lies to the north-east of ...

. After crossing the Cowie Water just north of

, a new junction, opened in 2019, reroutes the A90 road north as part of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR), bypassing the city to its west past the suburban developments of

Peterculter Peterculter , also known as Culter, is an outer suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland, about from the city centre. It lies on the north bank of the River Dee, Aberdeenshire, River Dee, at its confluence with the Culter Burn. Following the Local Governm ...

, Milltimber, Westhill and Kingswells, turning east past Aberdeen Airport and Dyce. The section of road previously part of the A90 was made part of the A92 and continues via Newtonhill,

Portlethen Portlethen (; ) is a town located approximately 7 miles south of Aberdeen, Scotland, along the A92 road, A92. The population according to the 2022 census was 8,969 making it the seventh most populous settlement within Aberdeenshire. To the ea ...

, Cove Bay, the urban area of

and the Bridge of Don before rejoining the A90 at Blackdog Junction, where the A'PRT terminates. Continuing north, the route crosses the Ythan Estuary near Ellon where it becomes a single carriageway, skirting

Peterhead Peterhead (; , ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is the council area's largest settlement, with a population of 19,060 at the 2022 Census for Scotland, 2022 Census. It is the largest fishing port in the United Kingdom for total landi ...

(and crossing Balmoor Bridge) on its way to Fraserburgh. The A952 road via Mintlaw is one of Aberdeenshire's principal freight routes. The Dundee to Aberdeen stretch of the A90 has many speed cameras. Previously, the trip from Dundee to Aberdeen along the A90 entailed over a dozen speed cameras including a majority of fixed Gatso types as well as locations used by mobile camera vans. These cameras were found on long fast stretches of road, and shortly before dangerous junctions, such as at the Laurencekirk junction where a speed limit is in force. This was introduced due to this junction's appalling safety record. A similar speed restriction was imposed at

until two new grade-separated junctions were built, after which the restriction was lifted. In 2017 Average Speed Cameras were erected between Dundee and Stonehaven, with 15 per side, spaced approximately every for a total of 30 cameras. BBC News reported in January 2018 that speed limit compliance had increased from 2 in 5 to 99 in 100 drivers. A short stretch of the A90, from the southern terminus of the M90 to Barnton Junction (a junction with the A902), is part of Euroroute E15, which runs from

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

Algeciras Algeciras () is a city and a municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located in the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, near the Strait of Gibraltar, it is the largest city on the Bay of G ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. The E15 continues northwards on the M90, and southwards on the A902 leading to the Edinburgh City Bypass. The A90 ran along the coast and through Aberdeen until the city was bypassed with the opening of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route in 2018. The former stretch of A90 from Stonehaven through to just north of Aberdeen is now part of the A92.

Future

In January 2016 the Scottish Government announced £24 million for the design and construction of a new grade-separated junction at Laurencekirk on the A90. Ground investigations were carried out in 2019 in preparation for upgrading the flat junction between the A90 and the A937 to a flyover after a number of deaths. This followed years of local campaigning. However, in 2021 it was announced that work had been delayed. The proposed flyover would require the closure of a flat crossing at Oatyhill Farm which is now the sole access point to some properties after the nearby 170-year-old Oatyhill Bridge, which crosses the Dundee–Aberdeen line, was closed to road traffic in 2020. However, supplementary draft Orders and an Environmental Impact Assessment Report (Addendum) was published in December 2024 to facilitate the necessary works required at Oatyhill to allow the flyover to be built. Dualling of the section north of Aberdeen has been subject to studies since the 1980s. A proposal was published in 2007 for dualling the section between Balmedie and Tipperty. While the Balmedie to Tipperty segment was eventually dualled as part of wider AWPR works, in 2023 the Scottish Government said it had no plans to dual the route north of Ellon.

River crossings

A90

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

s span numerous

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

s, estuaries and

burns Burns may refer to: Astronomy * 2708 Burns, an asteroid * Burns (crater), on Mercury People * Burns (surname), list of people and characters named Burns ** Burns (musician), Scottish record producer Places in the United States * Burns, ...

including: * Carron Water * Cowie Water * Burn of Muchalls * Burn of Pheppie * Burn of Elsick * River Dee * River Don * Ythan Estuary *

River Tay The River Tay (, ; probably from the conjectured Brythonic ''Tausa'', possibly meaning 'silent one' or 'strong one' or, simply, 'flowing' David Ross, ''Scottish Place-names'', p. 209. Birlinn Ltd., Edinburgh, 2001.) is the longest river in Sc ...

(via Friarton Bridge) *

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate ...

(via Queensferry Crossing) *

River North Esk The North Esk () is a river in Angus, Scotland, Angus and Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is formed by the meeting of the Water of Mark (from Glen Mark) and the Water of Lee (from Loch Lee), and enters the North Sea four miles north of Montrose, Ang ...

* River Ugie (via Balmoor Bridge)

References

External links

*
A90 Aberdeen Western Peripheral
{{DEFAULTSORT:9-0090 Roads in Scotland Transport in Edinburgh Transport in Perth and Kinross Transport in Dundee Transport in Angus, Scotland Transport in Aberdeenshire Transport in Aberdeen South Queensferry Transport in Perth, Scotland Stonehaven Forfar Brechin Westhill, Aberdeenshire Ellon, Aberdeenshire Transport in Peterhead Fraserburgh