Princes St bus ban lifted for Christmas

Published on Thursday 10 September 2009 22:11

PLANS to keep Edinburgh's main street traffic-free over the festive period are expected to be scrapped after pressure from retailers, The Scotsman has learned.

The city council is due to perform a U-turn and allow buses, taxis and cycles to use Princes Street after tram works are completed at the end of November.

This would effectively postpone a planned trial of pedestrian-only access to the street.

It would also see proposals by council officials to stage events on the thoroughfare as part of the Winter Festival abandoned.

They had hoped these would encourage people to spend longer in the street.

Retailers said returning buses to Princes Street would increase business in the crucial pre-Christmas period while also highlighting that the street was back to normal after its nine-month closure.

Buses have been diverted via George Street since February, while traders agreed to Princes Street remaining closed during the Edinburgh Festival last month to ensure the laying of tram tracks was completed by November.

The work is expected to be finished in time for the Christmas lights switch-on on 26 November, but buses are unlikely to start using the street until after an "art car" parade two days later.

The move would also see temporary restrictions on taxi waiting, disabled parking and loading in George Street lifted.

Council transport convener Gordon Mackenzie told The Scotsman: "It was our intention to use the initial period after works were complete to trial Princes Street as a public space and put on additional events for the Christmas programme.

"However, we completely understand the traders' desire to have the buses back and we are currently looking at the logistics of doing this for the end of November without hampering the launch of the Christmas programme."

Retailers welcomed the move. Jenners manager George Bell said: "It will help us, and will also give the perception to the public that Princes Street is back to normal.

"We are all for a trial of pedestrianisation, but the six-week period up to Christmas, which is crucial to any retailer, is not the right time to do it."

Iain Coupar, the marketing director of Lothian Buses, the city's main operator, said: "This is what we had been after. It will make quite a considerable difference and certainly benefit retailers."

A council spokeswoman said officials would produce revised plans for a pedestrianisation trial in the spring.

She said: "It may be that an opportunity to experience Princes Street as a pedestrian space for an extended period could be piloted at a future date."