More roadworks hell on the city's sinking street

ONE of the Capital's most frequently dug-up streets is set to endure more roadworks just weeks after it emerged it is sinking.

St Mary's Street will be closed at its junction with the Royal Mile to allow ScottishPower to carry out essential maintenance over the coming days.

The work comes after the Evening News revealed that the road is sinking following a botched re-instatement carried out the last time roadworks were carried out in the area.

Council bosses are currently deciding whether the repairs can be carried out alongside the ScottishPower work, a move which would potentially close the street to traffic for weeks.

Zoya Beaton, who owns The Russian Shop on the street, said continued roadworks had a "terrible" impact on the area's traders.

She said: "We hardly get any sales when the road is closed. It would be nice to get the work done as quickly as possible, but they weren't even here today. It looks like it will take them three months, when they should be doing it in three weeks."

Last month it emerged that subsidence means St Mary's Street faces being shut for repairs again, despite an earlier closure being blamed for putting shops out of business.

The council has tried to point the finger of blame at Scottish Water, saying leaks from ongoing work has caused the problem.

But the water company said it had not carried out repairs in the area for several years and found the pipes in good working order during a recent "MoT" check.

The council said "temporary patching" was being carried out in the street, but added that the local authority would be in discussions with ScottishPower to see what level of work could be carried out alongside the utility firm.

He said: "We will seek to co-ordinate our works with those of ScottishPower."

Work to repair pavements in St Mary's Street in 2007 was halted in time for Christmas after shopkeepers claimed it was ruining businesses. Traders had reacted furiously when workers began resurfacing pavements just months after work to improve the opposite side of the street.

Small businesses have also suffered from diversions brought in to repair gas mains in Holyrood Road and mend the broken road surface in the Canongate in recent years.

Last year, it emerged Edinburgh faces 86 million worth of repairs to the city's crumbling roads and pavements.