Edinburgh Greens propose car-free day to coincide with Grand Depart of Tour de France
Council also faces call to expand its Playing Out street closure scheme
Greens are calling for Edinburgh to close one or more arterial roads in the city for a “car-free” day to coincide with the Grand Depart of the Tour de France next summer.
And they want it to be the first of an annual car-free day in subsequent years.
A motion to next week’s full council meeting also calls for an expansion of the Playing Out scheme, where residents can apply to close their street temporarily for children’s free and active outdoor play.
The motion, tabled by new Portobello/Craigmillar Green councillor Lorenzo Martinico, notes that World Car Free Day, observed every September, was regularly supported in Edinburgh for many years, including the closure of George Street for a day in 2003.
And it highlights the Open Streets programme, which saw a number of Old Town streets closed to traffic on the first Sunday of every month before the pandemic.
Cllr Martinico said: "More than 400 cities across the world celebrate World Car-Free Day, to great effect. In Brussels, for example, Car-Free Day cuts nitrogen dioxide pollution by 80 per cent and noise by 99 per cent.
“Edinburgh closed George Street in 2003 and Waverley Bridge in 2022, but we’ve never properly evaluated Open Streets, and we don’t know how well Playing Out is working. This motion asks officers to find out, and to consider a proper Car-Free Day alongside the Tour de France Grand Départ in 2027.”
The motion does not propose which street or streets should be closed, but suggests “consideration of using one or more streets that have been proposed for future partial or complete pedestrianisation in the council’s City Mobility Plan”.
The motion also notes that a pilot Playing Out scheme in 2017 was followed by a decision of the transport and environment committee in 2018 to make the scheme council policy, with a three-year evaluation cycle.
But it adds: “It’s unclear if this evaluation was completed or whether the evaluation report returned to committee, and what level of support the council currently provides to parents or community groups that may want to host a Playing Out event.”
The Greens want a report on the evaluation of Open Streets and on how often the current Playing Out scheme is used across the city, as well as the feasibility of expanding the number of such Playing Out events, ad the possibility of a dedicated officer to support parents’ groups and community groups wanting to make use of the scheme.
Cllr Martinico said: “Edinburgh is stuck in a prisoner’s dilemma. People can’t give up their cars because there aren’t enough buses and cycling doesn’t feel safe, yet it’s the sheer number of cars that makes our streets feel unsafe and slows everyone down, buses included.
“A Car Free Day is an opportunity to temporarily create a better Edinburgh of the future, where the dangers and frustration of traffic are no longer an issue. Without bulky cars, our streets can be places for children to play, for neighbours to share a meal, and maybe one day to grow some food. It's time that Edinburgh gave World Car-Free Day a serious chance."
The Grand Depart takes place on Friday July 2, 2027, beginning outside the Scottish Parliament and the Palace of Holyroodhouse before proceeding up the Royal Mile, onto North Bridge and Princes Street, around The Mound and Johnston Terrace, through the Grassmarket, up Victoria Street onto Chambers Street and then from South Bridge to Cameron Toll and on to Midlothian.