The Aberdeen Mega-Hyper New Stadium Thread

[Tibbermoresaint]

2 minutes ago, Merkland Red said:

 

Pittodrie must see the lowest away team attendance in the top league. Are the club really supposed to tailor a stadium move to suit away fans?

Surprisingly enough, I've never had to travel to Pittodrie on an away supporters bus but can't imagine it's an enjoyable experience either before or after the game as the City Centre is in near gridlock.

 

Why not try to suit all fans, especially if the club anticipates hosting international matches too?

Not sure why you think the city centre being in gridlock is an argument when the concensus is that Kingsford will also be gridlocked. 

[Tibbermoresaint]

1 minute ago, Merkland Red said:

The club estimate 68 different journeys using 42 buses.

In regards to Dyce, the first bus will leave station/park and ride 2.5 hours before the game. The rest will be staggered throughout. I'd imagine this will be based on the fact some folk will want to head to the stadium bar early doors etc.

Rather than the 7 buses making staggered trips, they'd likely all be leaving the stadium at roughly the same time. Some may be leaving the stadium a bit later so fans can stay back and use the facilities post match.

Makes sense to me?

Why Dyce when far more fans will be coming from the south than the north?

[kingjoey]

2 hours ago, virginton said:

What an utterly ridiculous argument. 'Success' or 'disaster' in a project is not some 50-50 coin toss and even if it were, that wouldn't be good enough odds for most football clubs to up sticks and move anyway. And most importantly, it's not a random outcome either; there is in fact scope for both Aberdeen fans as well as fans of other clubs to look at the plans in place and judge on those facts whether the move is more likely to succeed than not.   

The all-important transport infrastructure set out so far is woefully insufficient and so makes the proposed move more likely to be a disaster than a success. That's something that we can judge right now. If the club or the city's leaders put something more credible in place in the next few years, then that verdict can be changed according to the new facts.  

Fairly straightforward stuff tbh.

 

 

You’re obviously better qualified to know what is going to happen with the traffic situation than the experts who actually investigated everything for the club. Aberdeen could have saved a fortune by contacting you a few years ago.

[DukDukGoose]

1 minute ago, Tibbermoresaint said:

Why not try to suit all fans, especially if the club anticipates hosting international matches too?

Not sure why you think the city centre being in gridlock is an argument when the concensus is that Kingsford will also be gridlocked. 

Aberdeen should remain at a crumbling stadium with mounting maintenance costs and no scope to renovate at an affordable cost to suit away fans? Really?

For avoidance of doubt, I'm of the opinion then club should have done more to renovate Pittodrie decades ago, before it was boxed in.

I know for a fact that the City Centre is in gridlock on a match day. People trying to guess what will happen in 4 years have decided Kingsford will be gridlocked.

[DukDukGoose]

3 minutes ago, Tibbermoresaint said:

Why Dyce when far more fans will be coming from the south than the north?

Dyce was the example Edtheduck used.

Fans from the south will avoid the traffic coming from the north and I can't, imagine them having any issue? It's literally on the new bypass.

[vikingTON]

2 minutes ago, kingjoey said:

You’re obviously better qualified to know what is going to happen with the traffic situation than the experts who actually investigated everything for the club. Aberdeen could have saved a fortune by contacting you a few years ago.

Aberdeen contacted people who told them what they wanted to hear - that's why a coach and horses has already been driven through the club's ridiculous 'shuttle bus' idea. It's really not my fault that your club is wedded to a shan project tbh. 

[Aberdeen Cowden]

1 hour ago, Merkland Red said:

Why's that then?

Because it’s rubbish, or at least it was. May have been rewritten by someone who understands the potential problems right enough.

[DukDukGoose]

1 minute ago, Aberdeen Cowden said:

Because it’s rubbish, or at least it was. May have been rewritten by someone who understands the potential problems right enough.

https://www.kingsfordstadium.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/170021_DPP-Supporter_Travel___Shuttle_Bus_Strategy-1556965.pdf

 

What's rubbish about it then?

[sjc]

7 minutes ago, virginton said:

Aberdeen contacted people who told them what they wanted to hear - that's why a coach and horses has already been driven through the club's ridiculous 'shuttle bus' idea. It's really not my fault that your club is wedded to a shan project tbh. 

In fairness to Aberdeen FC, building an "out of town" stadium with an ill conceived transportation plan was all the rage back in the late 1980's......

[EdTheDuck]

25 minutes ago, Merkland Red said:

The club estimate 68 different journeys using 42 buses.

In regards to Dyce, the first bus will leave station/park and ride 2.5 hours before the game. The rest will be staggered throughout. I'd imagine this will be based on the fact some folk will want to head to the stadium bar early doors etc.

Rather than the 7 buses making staggered trips, they'd likely all be leaving the stadium at roughly the same time. Some may be leaving the stadium a bit later so fans can stay back and use the facilities post match.

Makes sense to me?

That's what I said. And what facilities? If the first 7 buses take 72 people each that will leave 378 more than the capacity of the stadium bar just from the Dyce fans. (1,228 - (72 X 7=504) = 778 - Stadium Bar 400 = 378.

If you mean the facilities in Westhill (which are extremely, extremely  limited), do you think fans will walk 1.5-2.5 miles for a pint then 1.5-2.5 miles back and hope they didn't miss their bus in the meantime?

By the way, according to AFC's own 'comprehensive' estimates, there will be around 2,000 vehicles leaving the stadium after the game.  If you have ever used the roundabout/AWPR on-ramps between 4:30pm and 5:30pm on a weekday with, maybe a couple of hundred vehicles, then you should have a nightmarish vision of the carnage with 2,000 in that area.

Way, way back somewhere in this thread (or somewhere) I suggested pop-up bars a la the Christmas pop-up outside Union Square so folk can hang around without blowing a mental gasket. I doubt Plod would allow it but now would be a good time to start running through the contingencies, don't you think?

Edited May 17, 2019 by EdTheDuck
speeling erorr

[Dons_1988]

Fucking hell who knew P&B had so many experts on this. Impressive.

[sjc]

1 minute ago, Dons_1988 said:

Fucking hell who knew P&B had so many experts on this. Impressive.

TBF, I was a member of the Institute of Highways and Transportation Engineers back in my civil engineering days.....

[DukDukGoose]

1 minute ago, EdTheDuck said:

That's what I said. And what facilities? If the first 7 buses take 72 people each that will leave 378 more than the capacity of the stadium bar just from the Dyce fans. (1,228 - (72 X 7=504) = 778 - Stadium Bar 400 = 378.

If you mean the facilities in Westhill (which are extremely, extremely)  limited, do you fans will walk 1.5-2.5 miles for a pint then 1.5-2.5 miles back and hope they didn't miss their bus in the meantime?

By the way, according to AFC's own 'comprehensive' estimates, there will be around 2,000 vehicles leaving the stadium after the game.  If you have ever used the roundabout/AWPR on-ramps between 4:30pm and 5:30pm on a weekday with, maybe a couple of hundred vehicles, then you should have a nightmarish vision of the carnage with 2,000 in that area.

Way, way back somewhere in this thread (or somewhere) I suggested pop-up bars a la the Christmas pop-up outside Union Square so folk can hang around without blowing a mental gasket. I doubt Plod would allow it but now would be a good time to start running through the contingencies, don't you think?

Agreed with you on the last point. From what the fans have said there will be fanzones.

Your third point, there's 4 years to come up with a traffic plan if required. The stadium is not opening tomorrow. Temporary traffic lights for football games could be an option.

Of course no-one is going to walk to Westhill for a pint. Throwing in a comment like that nullifies the good points you make.

With safe, free flowing traffic leaving the stadium (should not be an issue in 4 years time), how long do you estimate a bus journey to Dyce? It's not like the next bus is going to arrive in an hour. If it's anything like the few buses they have near the top of Merkland road that take you in to town, they're almost out of sight immediately after the final whistle.

 

[EdTheDuck]

25 minutes ago, Tibbermoresaint said:

Why Dyce when far more fans will be coming from the south than the north?

Look at the 'comprehensive' plan. There is no plan for anyone further South than College Street although there seems to be a conglomeration between College Street, Guild Street and Shiprow...presumably in recognition of fans going into the City Centre

[sjc]

2 minutes ago, Merkland Red said:

Agreed with you on the last point. From what the fans have said there will be fanzones.

Your third point, there's 4 years to come up with a traffic plan if required. The stadium is not opening tomorrow. Temporary traffic lights for football games could be an option.

Of course no-one is going to walk to Westhill for a pint. Throwing in a comment like that nullifies the good points you make.

With safe, free flowing traffic leaving the stadium (should not be an issue in 4 years time), how long do you estimate a bus journey to Dyce? It's not like the next bus is going to arrive in an hour. If it's anything like the few buses they have near the top of Merkland road that take you in to town, they're almost out of sight immediately after the final whistle.

 

What time do you envisage the fanzone being open until?

Edited May 17, 2019 by sjc

[Stellaboz]

Aberdeen is easily gridlocked most weekends anyway, the layout of the city has seen to that. Dunno if the bypass would help, but that's another argument.

[DukDukGoose]

5 minutes ago, sjc said:

What time do you envisage the fanzone being open until?

[Aberdeen Cowden]

16 minutes ago, Dons_1988 said:

Fucking hell who knew P&B had so many experts on this. Impressive.

C

 

16 minutes ago, Dons_1988 said:

Fucking hell who knew P&B had so many experts on this. Impressive.

Not experts at all. Just common sense.

[Dons_1988]

TBF, I was a member of the Institute of Highways and Transportation Engineers back in my civil engineering days.....

Not trying to discredit anyone personally. Just seems a lot.

[EdTheDuck]

4 minutes ago, Merkland Red said:

Agreed with you on the last point. From what the fans have said there will be fanzones.

Your third point, there's 4 years to come up with a traffic plan if required. The stadium is not opening tomorrow. Temporary traffic lights for football games could be an option.

Of course no-one is going to walk to Westhill for a pint. Throwing in a comment like that nullifies the good points you make.

With safe, free flowing traffic leaving the stadium (should not be an issue in 4 years time), how long do you estimate a bus journey to Dyce? It's not like the next bus is going to arrive in an hour. If it's anything like the few buses they have near the top of Merkland road that take you in to town, they're almost out of sight immediately after the final whistle.

 

You spoke about facilities. What facilities? What will the fanzones entail? Pop-up bars? Food? Cover? This is what I mean about making contingency plans now - if it's all in place in 4 years it will work. If it's all just wait and see it won't. Besides which any number of folks on here have been suggesting Westhill has loads of facilities for fans (it doesn't).

I drive to Westhill from Dyce and back every day. The Craibstone roundabout is an accident waiting to happen during both rush hours and the Westhill roundabout is the same: hence the reason there have been so many accidents at both in the 3 months the AWPR has been fully open. I don't use the AWPR in the mornings, because the Westhill roundabout backs up all the way to the dual carriageway when it's busy and getting onto the roundabout is something akin to Russian Roulette with cars. I cut through Kirkhill Forest in the mornings. At night I blast right through to the Goval turnoff rather than the Craibstone roundabout because folk seem to think all 3 lanes are for the airport, the city and the A96 West.

The shuttle bus will have no option but to use the Craibstone roundabout because that's where the park & ride is. If there are even 500 vehicles trying to get onto that Westhill roundabout after the game the first bus will take at least an hour to get to Dyce and back. Guarantee it.

Unless they are going to build some new roads then I do not see how there will be free flowing traffic, I'm afraid. Unless they start looking at it now. Which they are not.