The Scottish Government has approved a $472.6m-$632.8m (£295m-£395m) bypass project in the northeastern city of Aberdeen, despite opposition from environmentalists.

The project involves building a 28 mile bypass to provide a fast link between towns to the north, west and south of Aberdeen.

The bypass is aimed at easing traffic and improving business in the north east and is expected to remove thousands of vehicles off the area’s rural roads.

According to the campaign group Road Sense, the road will bring about a 9% increase in emissions of CO2 by 2026. Work is expected to begin in 2011.