Icy weather sees pedestrians and cyclists fall on Edinburgh road closed for their safety

A woman suffered a suspected broken wrist after falling on ice on a road which is closed to traffic to make it "safe" for pedestrians and cyclists.

Braid Road is currently for pedestrians and cyclists only Picture: Lisa Ferguson

The accident was one of several falls said to have happened in Braid Road, Morningside, which has been shut under the Spaces for People scheme to make it easier to walk or cycle during the coronavirus crisis.

In a social media exchange about Braid Road, one person tweeted: “My son and several others just assisted a lady that broke her wrist on sheet ice there. Ambulance attended, hopefully all good.”

Jason Rust, Conservative councillor for Colinton/Fairmilehead, said there had also been reports of cyclists who had come off their bikes on the ice.

He said the road had not been gritted. "It hadn't been treated at all, presumably on the basis it was closed, but then of course it was closed to provide a quiet route for pedestrians and cyclists. You would have thought they would have had it as part of the regime as usual.”

The Braid Road closure has been a matter of controversy since it was first implemented.

Cllr Rust said: “This is just the latest in a long line of issues since the closure of the road. It started with them saying it had been closed on police advice and then having to correct that because the police hadn’t given any such advice.

“Then there has been the ongoing saga about whether or not the road would reopen, with any hope being taken away each time, and then we had the double yellow lines being laid despite the fact the road was closed.

"On the basis it's meant as a safe space to exercise or walk it seems ludicrous the council can’t properly maintain it in the winter period. It seems to have been forgotten but I would hope it can be added to the list for future so we don’t have any further accidents.”

The Evening News approached the council over the accident and the concerns about the road not being treated and a spokeswoman responded later, saying Braid Road was being gritted at that moment.

She said: “We prepare well in advance for whatever winter might throw at us. Our teams are out gritting priority routes and our Roads Services teams are on standby with a fleet of gritting lorries and mini-tractors ready to go when needed.

“Our gritting teams are working 24/7 to respond to the poor conditions on the city’s roads, cycle paths and pavements. We operate a priority gritting system, treating priority one routes first, which include principal roads, bus routes and roads and pavements leading to hospitals, fire stations care homes, in order to keep the city moving. The current icy and snowy conditions are placing extra pressure on our services so would ask everyone to take extra care when out and about in the city.”

At the start of December the council said it had 11,000 tonnes of salt stockpiled for the winter season.

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