Traffic Issues in Inverleith

by Pippa Leary
(reprinted from The Inverleith News, Summer 2005)

2005 has been another busy year for consideration of traffic, congestion and parking issues. These are considered in more detail below but in brief the state of play is that the congestion charge proposals have come and gone, major progress has been made on the extension of the Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ), with some consultation-related progress on the bus lane in Inverleith Row, and the Central Edinburgh Traffic Management (CETM) plans are in the process of being implemented.

Congestion Charge
Maybe this past year could be characterised as a 'win some, lose some' year. As you will remember, Edinburgh voters came down heavily, two to one, against the proposed £2 congestion charge. In the absence of a Plan B, that would seem to be the final decision on that issue, for the time being at least.

Controlled Parking Zone
Discussion of the regulation of parking in the Inverleith area has been an active topic for nearly ten years now but this year we may be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. With the issuing in August of the Report by the Reporter conducting the Public Hearing into the proposals for the extension of the CPZ, real progress is being made. The Hearing was held in April with specific times allocated for evidence from local people about local issues. Now four months later the Reporter has produced his recommendations to the City. Unfortunately the production of the Report and the City's response thereto, and the publication of Inverleith News are running concurrently. So though I have information on the timetable of the Report's findings becoming public I do not have information on the Report's substance to pass on.

As I understand it, by the end of August the City officials will have considered the Report, briefed our elected representatives and prepared a response. The main points will be covered by the press on Friday 2 September with the report and response submitted to the Executive Council on 6 September. The documents are then likely to be referred to the nine-member Environmental Quality Scrutiny Panel, then to be returned to the full Council, or back to the Executive, for consideration on 28 September. Implementation remains likely to be in the spring of financial year 2006-07.

Bus lane on Inverleith Row
Plans for the changes to the Goldenacre end of Inverleith Row are proceeding through the City Development Department. These include the introduction of short stay parking bays and a northbound bus lane on Inverleith Row and amendments to the waiting, loading and unloading restrictions. These proposed changes have caused considerable concern, particularly to the shopkeepers in Goldenacre, who face loss of free parking and considerable reduction in number of parking places. At the time of going to press a consultation meeting between the responsible city official and the shopkeepers was being arranged.

Central Edinburgh Traffic Management Plans
For Inverleith the manifestation of the CETM has been the change of the Canonmills roundabout into a traffic-light controlled intersection. It is early days yet but my observation based on walking down Inverleith Row and up Brandon Terrace on my way to work is that filtering through a traffic-light controlled intersection produces longer and more frequent queues of traffic than in the roundabout days. This limited evidence is independently confirmed by a Warriston Crescent resident relating that access is now much easier for them: drivers of stationary cars waiting for the lights to change are obliging in letting vehicles in and out.

Traffic Issues Archive
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2007