Edinburgh's Cameron Toll roadworks see gridlock at shopping centre car park with some forced to leave cars

Some visitors at Cameron Toll Shopping Centre said they were stuck for 45 minutes

Road works near Edinburgh’s Cameron Toll roundabout resulted in car park chaos at the nearby shopping centre, with some drivers forced to abandon their cars and walk home.

On Tuesday, April 2, several road closures were put in place to allow for resurfacing works at Dalkeith Road, Lady Road and Peffermill Road. The disruption is expected to last for three to four weeks. 

Many Edinburgh drivers faced long queues at Cameron Toll Shopping Centre yesterday

A spokesperson for the shopping centre said the ‘extended roadworks have caused significant disruption to businesses in the area.’

Images shared online show standstill traffic around the entirety of the Cameron Toll Shopping Centre car park, with queues running in both directions from each of the two entrances. Yesterday’s traffic ‘mayhem’ became too much for some drivers who opted to abandon leave their car at the shopping centre and walk home.

One Edinburgh resident wrote online: “Avoid Cameron Toll junction. Even the shopping centre car park has a traffic jam.” Another added: “I had to leave my car in the shopping centre and walk home”. Several residents across various social media sites expressed similar experiences.

Another resident, who said they were stuck in the shopping centre car park for 45 minutes, described the scene as ‘mayhem’. One man stated the road works were having ‘a huge impact’ at the shopping centre and said drivers were using the shopping centre ‘as an alternative route both ways’. He said: “This resulted in gridlock most of today. Going to be carnage when schools go back.”

Three legs of the busy roundabout are currently closed to traffic however drivers can still travel westbound from Old Dalkeith Road to Lady Road. To help alleviate traffic in the area, the bus lane camera on Prestonfield Avenue will not be in operation for the duration of the resurfacing works. Several bus services have diversions in place.

The recent resurfacing works comes seven weeks after the section between Peffermill Road and Old Dalkeith Road closed following the discovery of a collapsed culvert underneath the road. Work to repair the culvert began on March 4.

The resurfacing works are expected to be completed by early May with the full roundabout to be operational by May 10.

A spokesperson for Cameron Toll Shopping Centre, said: “We would like to reassure our visitors that the Centre and all stores, will remain open as normal while the Council continues its maintenance works around Sharpdale roundabout.  Both entrances to the centre - via Lady Road for our west entrance and Old Dalkeith Road for our north or west Entrance - remain fully open and there is no change to the centre's trading hours.

“Unfortunately, the extended roadworks have caused significant disruption to businesses in the area, with the centre’s car park among those affected.  We are continuing to monitor the situation and can assure our visitors that we will do whatever we can to help minimise delays during the duration of the works."