Green light for first steps towards making Edinburgh's Spaces for People scheme permanent

Edinburgh City Council has approved the first steps towards making its controversial Spaces for People traffic management programme permanent.
The Spaces For People project in Edinburgh  introduced floating bus stops.The Spaces For People project in Edinburgh  introduced floating bus stops.
The Spaces For People project in Edinburgh introduced floating bus stops.

In May 2020 the Scottish government announced funding for Spaces for People programmes, which aimed to provide safe options for essential journeys during the coronavirus pandemic.

Since April, the council has used the £5m it received from the Scottish government to introduce various road closures and temporary traffic measures using emergency coronavirus powers.

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Some of these measures have proved incredibly controversial, with several sparking community campaigns against them.

Spaces for People in the city centreSpaces for People in the city centre
Spaces for People in the city centre

Other measures, particularly in areas that experience serious traffic congestion or speeding, have been broadly welcomed by residents.

Now, at a meeting of the council’s transport committee today, councillors approved plans to launch a city-wide consultation on which traffic measures and road closures residents may wish to keep or object to.

Councillors have also voted to approve changes to two existing traffic arrangements in the city, including:

Braid Road - the existing road closure is set to be opened to motorised, one-way traffic, in a southbound direction.

Tollcross Town Centre - cancellation of the planned pavement widening work on Earl Grey Street, to allow for southbound cycle lane markings.

Furthermore, councillors have rubber-stamped new scheme to be installed as part of Space for People, including:

Silverknowes Road - introduction of cycle lanes.

Slateford Road - segregated cycle lane infrastructure between Allan Park Road and Dundee Street.

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Granton Square to Marine Drive - introduction of advisory cycle lane on West Shore Road, and a closed section of road between the Forth Quarter Park and the Gypsy Brae Recreation area.

Braid Hills Road, Braid Hills Drive and Liberton Drive - introduction of bidirectional cycle lanes on the westbound lane, with segregation between

Braid Farm Road and Liberton Tower. The central hatching will be removed, and the speed limit reduced from 40mph to 30mph.

Bellevue to Canonmills - this proposal is an addition to the Broughton Street/Roundabout Commonplace scheme to extend the provision of segregated cycle facilities down to the Rodney Street junction.

Meadow Place Road/Ladywell Road Junction - installation of cycle markings and segregation at the junction and along Meadow Place Road.

Orchard Brae Uphill Cycleway - would complete the link between cycle provision on the A90 and Crewe Road South.

Conservative opposition councillors tried to amend some of the plans of the ruling SNP/Labour coalition, including calling for an immediate full opening of Braid Road, and a pause on all of the proposed new schemes.

However, the amendment, proposed by Pentland Hills councillor Susan Webber and seconded by Inverleith councillor Iain Whyte, was voted down by seven votes to three.

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A start date for the consultation, or the means of consulting, have not been published but the transport committee is expecting the results of the consultation to be presented at the committee’s meeting in April.

The assessment criteria includes asking: does the project encourage walking and/or cycling; what are the project’s impacts on businesses; and what are the project’s impacts on disabled street users?

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