Edinburgh roads: Changes to controversial traffic scheme still not implemented a year after they were agreed

The city council’s transport and environment committee voted in March 2024 to reopen roads in Morningside's Braid estate to traffic and install a segregated cycle lane on Hermitage Drive and Braid Avenue after a survey showed that was the option with most support among residents.

But locals launched a petition to keep the traffic restrictions while cycle campaign group Spokes has spoken out against the segregated cycle lanes.

Traffic restrictions are still in place in Braid Avenue at the junction with Cluny Drive | supplied

In addition, the safety audit of the proposed changes - which was not completed until after the decision was made - highlighted several potential accident spots.

And 13 months on, the roads are still closed and the bollards and planters blocking traffic remain in place.

The closure of Braid Road and other nearby roads was one of the most controversial of Edinburgh’s Spaces for People schemes. And the roads through the Braid estate also form part of the Greenbank to Meadows Quiet Route.

The council says it still plans to proceed with the changes as agreed in March 2024, though with some minor amendments following suggestions from residents. However, it is understood that will delay it further because a second safety audit is now required.

Among the issues highlighted by the safety audit was the plan to make the cycle lane bidirectional. The audit said drivers turning into or out of a side road might not be expecting cyclists going in both directions, increasing the risk of a collision.

And it said the cycle lane was too narrow - just 1.9 metres - which also increased the chances of a collision, either with another cyclist or with an adjacent kerb.

No through traffic is allowed at the junction o Hermitage Gardens with Cluny Drive | supplied

Resident Paul Bailey said no decision should have been made without the committee seeing the safety audit. “It's a major factor in deciding what is safe. It’s hard to comprehend. It found 13 possible accidents, including two head-on ones, but the council more or less ignored it.”

He believes Braid Avenue should be reopened as planned, but without the segregated cycle lane.

“The reopening of Braid Avenue is the common sense use of what is obviously the main road through the estate with the safety of traffic lights for motorists at the junction with Cluny Gardens.

“Experienced cyclists are fairly happy to go along that road without the segregation. And if they keep the present zig-zag Quiet Route, that’s the one a lot of inexperienced cyclists use - that, in my opinion, is the best solution.

“Besides the huge saving in costs, it would meet lots of the safety audit’s concerns, do away with a pointless downhill cycle lane on Braid Avenue, and reduce the need for parking restrictions.”

Morningside Tory councillor Marie-Clair Munro said something had to happen and if the changes were implemented then at least people would be able to judge whether they worked.

She said: “The road safety audit has thrown up various spots that were seen as dangerous and those have to be addressed. And then there will be the ETRO which means everyone will have the opportunity to say how they feel.

“Residents across the estate have very different views, but we have to start moving in some direction and the residents, regardless of where they sit on the issue, are getting annoyed. I think they just want something in and if it doesn’t work they’l be able to give their views on that.”