Monday, November 9 2009
The feasibility of establishing freight consolidation centres to ease traffic congestion and air and environmental pollution in Perth and Dundee is being studied by transport planner JMP.
Tactran, the regional transport partnership for Dundee City, Perth & Kinross, Angus and Stirling, has commissioned JMP to look at the possibility of a centre for retail consolidation in Perth and retail and/or construction consolidation in Dundee.
JMP will be liaising with retailers, council teams, the freight industry, supply chain operators, developers and construction companies.
The aim will be to reduce the requirement for several vehicles to enter congested areas to deliver part loads to individual units or shops by using common vehicles to supply several outlets. The potential for return loads of recyclable materials will also be considered.
JMP will also study the potential for a construction consolidation centre specifically to serve the Dundee Waterfront development project where regeneration is planning up until 2031.
Perth is notable for services such as finance, insurance and banking, with hotels, catering and tourism contributing significantly to the economy, and is also renowned for the number of independent specialist retailers. The town lies at the junction of the two main supply chain routes north from the Central Belt – the M90 from Edinburgh and the A9 from Glasgow.
Dundee is the regional centre with a high quality city centre retail environment, with competing edge-of-town retail facilities, and proposals for the Dundee Waterfront open up more retail, employment and service sector opportunities.
Freight supply routes to/from Dundee are dominated by the A90 from Perth with the supplementary routes of the A90 from Aberdeen, A92 from Arbroath and the A92 Tay Road Bridge.