Traffic & Parking Issues in Inverleith

by Pippa Leary
(reprinted from The Inverleith News, Spring 2007)

?The introduction of Zone N2 residents’ parking on 8 January 2007 is the culmination of over 10 years of lobbying. The Society hopes you have found the £80 permit charge worth it. That breaks down to £1.60 a week, about the same as two litres of petrol which would take you about 20 miles. Seen in the context of motoring costs it seems a bargain. If you are reading this you have probably also read earlier articles chronicling the Society’s efforts to get some relief from commuter congestion. The photographs should help tell the story.

Most graphic is Inverleith Place: the eastern half with space for residents and very low take-up of pay and display bays and the western half, currently unregulated, with both sides of the road lined with cars. Much the same applies in Inverleith Terrace and Eildon Street: room for residents and low take-up of paid parking. The same low take-up is seen at the West Gate of the Botanic Garden on Arboretum Place. Whether this low take-up is temporary or will persist when zone N3 comes into operation in July 2007 remains to be seen.

The photographs also illustrate the multiplicity of options, instructions, obligations and exhortations which now regulate parking in Inverleith. Depending where you have parked, what you pay, and whether you have a permit (resident’s or visitor’s), you can park safely for 2, 4, 6, 9 or 24 hours. So check carefully before you wander off. Although the situation is confusing, it is an attempt by the city to respond to different needs. Short term parking should suit shoppers, while longer, 9 hour bays are for workers in the area.

Rush-hour parking restrictions have been lifted on the east side of Howard Place/Inverleith Row, which makes life much easier for residents. That’s the good news. A less positive outcome is the day-long clearing of the west side of Inverleith Row, encouraging speeding and thoughtless driving, inappropriate for a residential road. Another drawback, an influx of commuter cars, is affecting residents of Inverleith Place west end, Arboretum Road and - temporarily - streets scheduled to be included in the extension of N2 at the north end of Inverleith Row later this summer.

The introduction of a short length of bus lane at the north end of Inverleith Row has added to congestion. Does 200-300 metres of bus lane achieve better traffic flow for buses? I remain to be convinced. The intersection changes have reduced the amount of parking space available for shoppers, thereby affecting our traders. Traders in the south of the city have proposed free short-term parking bays for shoppers. The Society feels that idea has merit. Goldenacre is a valued shopping area, and measures to assist small shops have our support. A related issue is the provision of permits for traders. The Society supports that idea, too.

The closure of St Bernard’s Row has also had an impact in the Inverleith area. This requires longer journeys around Inverleith Park, not good for the carbon footprint, and concentrates traffic on East Fettes Avenue and Comely Bank Avenue, as opposed to spreading it out so that some of it uses Glenogle Road/St Bernard’s Row and then Dean Street. One would hope from the fiasco of city centre closures that the City would realise that closing streets does not reduce traffic but merely re-directs it. Where is the fairness in giving one set of residents cleared streets at the expense of piling up traffic on the streets of another? The Society argued, forcefully but ineffectively, that street closures had been shown to be a blunt instrument in traffic management and that more subtle means - humps, cameras, chicanes - could be used. Given the City’s response to the Society’s observations, it seems we have a continuing remit to be the voice of reason and local knowledge.

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Inverleith Place, West & East