Give us back our forgotten footbridge over Waverley

Published on Tuesday 5 May 2009 09:51

IT WAS built in the late 19th century to replace an ancient road that used to link the city's Old Town and Leith Walk before the opening of Waverley Station.

The footbridge, which linked Jeffrey Street to Calton Road, was 'temporarily' closed by British Rail in 1950 and has never reopened.

Now station owner Network Rail wants to dismantle the remains as part of its 130 million revamp of Waverley's roof, prompting local campaigners to start a bid to have it rebuilt.

Some supports and parts of the entrance of the footbridge still remain at the Calton Road entrance to the station, and the bridge itself still extends under Waverley's roof.

It is hoped that rebuilding the old bridge can improve links between the Old Town and the revamped St James Centre and Leith beyond.

The bridge was one of the conditions of an act of parliament allowing the creation of a rebuilt Waverley in 1892. The new station was built over Leith Wynd, an important trading route that dated back to the 16th century.

Canongate resident and transport researcher Jolin Warren has formed the Rebridge the Gap campaign and

is urging people to write to city planners considering Network Rail's planning application by the deadline of 15 May.

He said: "It is something which has frustrated me for a while now but with the planning application for the new roof going in I just thought it was now or never.

"It is a rather circuitous route from the Canongate to Leith Walk and I think it presents a really good opportunity to create a new link in the city centre. A footbridge between Jeffrey Street and Calton Road is required by the North British Railway (Waverley Station.) Act of 1891, so there is also a legal dimension."

Network Rail last month unveiled plans to replace the station's roof. New images showed how its 17,000 cloudy, wired safety-glass panels would be replaced with clear, strengthened glass, allowing more natural light in.

Councillor Joanna Mowatt said the proposal was worth considering: "This is an issue which came up during the consultation over Caltongate, the links across the Waverley valley are important because there are not too many ways to get from the Old Town to the New Town.

"There is a strong argument for bringing back what was Leith Wynd – it is a long way round if you are on either side at where the bridge was."

A spokeswoman for Network Rail said it would consider the proposal once a formal request had been submitted.