Fears that Edinburgh's 'temporary' traffic measures could become permanent if there's no money to undo them

TRAFFIC measures introduced as temporary changes during the pandemic could become permanent because the council has not budgeted enough money to reverse them, a senior councillor has claimed.

Temporary measures have been introduced across the city

Tory group chairman Jason Rust said figures showed Edinburgh had set aside much less than other authorities for reinstatement of infrastructure at the end of the period.

The council has used temporary traffic regulation orders (TTROs) to introduce a host of measures across the city, including road closures, new cycle lanes and wider pavements, funded by a £5 million Scottish Government Spaces for People grant. But TTROs can last for a maximum of 18 months.

In answer to a question from Cllr Rust at full council, transport convener Lesley Macinnes said £277,884 had been set aside for reinstatement.

But Cllr Rust queried whether that was enough. “In Aberdeen, £420,000 - around a quarter of its grant received - has been retained to undo work. Significantly less has been set aside here despite a much larger grant in Edinburgh.

“Will the convener guarantee that other council budgets will not be impacted beyond this sum and that the works will not be made permanent simply on the basis there are no funds left to put them back?”

Cllr Macinnes said she would not offer guarantees about operational budgets because that was a matter for officers.

"However, there will always be a gap between temporary Spaces for People measures and any shift towards absorbing what we have learned from that into any kind of permanent measure.

“Any changes around Spaces for People projects will come back to the transport and environment committee for review and agreement.”

Aberdeen received £1.76m from the Spaces for People programme for its measures, which have included pedestrianising part of the city centre.

Cllr Rust said: “There is a concern that measures which are being billed as temporary will by stealth suddenly become permanent.

“It’s also not acceptable that an already constrained council budget could be impacted by having to part foot the bill for undoing the works, but nor do we want a situation whereby we are left with inappropriate and unnecessary changes because insufficient funds have been set aside to undo.

"The budget issues need to be seriously considered and we need transparency around how and where this grant is being spent.”

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