Traffic diverted for hospital building work

TRAFFIC around a city hospital site is being diverted as part of a major building project.

To make way for the new 43 million Royal Victoria Hospital - which will be placed beside the Western General - some changes will be made to transport around the building.

Porterfield Road will be partly closed for a month from Thursday, while buses which usually stop in the hospital itself will instead go to Crewe Road South. Both measures will allow the construction of a bridge to connect the new facility with the Anne Ferguson building.

Some access from the hospital to the multi-storey car park will also be adjusted for pedestrians.

Jackie Sansbury, chief operating officer for acute services for NHS Lothian, said: "The Royal Victoria building is starting to take shape, and creating the bridge to link the new building with the Western General is an exciting step forward."