City's lost road

It must be that J R Hall (Letters, 18 February) was not in Edinburgh in the 1980s, or he would have known his "big idea" for a road linking Haymarket and the western approaches to the city was the topic of heated debate and nearly came to fruition.

Lothian Regional Council had planned to extend the Western Approach Road to Hermiston Gate, to link up with the city bypass and M8 extension. This route would have had access points to other arteries and to the suburbs and provided a well-needed safety valve to the A8 and A70.

The land along which the proposed tram will run from Westfield to Hermiston Gait was purchased (hence the ease with which it has slotted into the tramway scheme). This meant relocating local firms and making compulsory purchase orders.

A contract was signed in 1986, just before the council elections. The Labour Party, in their manifesto, decried the link as a "waste of public money". Their election literature showed a vast road – with no access points – running from the M8 to Lothian Road at the Usher Hall junction.

This was going to "cause chaos at that point and in the city centre". Labour won the election and, true to their word, cancelled the contract, compensating the developer at a cost of 1 million to the ratepayer.

J LINDSAY WALLS

Buckstone Wood

Edinburgh