Edinburgh roads: Cut in speed limit 'chaotic and confusing' as old signs still in place and new ones hidden by trees
Speed limit changes on a busy Edinburgh road have been branded “chaotic and confusing” with old 40mph signs still painted on the road surfaced and new signposts hidden by overgrown trees.
The cut in the speed limit from 40 to 30mph on Queensferry Road came into effect in June this year, covering the three mile stretch of road between Strachan Road and Cramond Brig.
But Lib Dem councillor Kevin Lang, whose Almond ward includes Davidson’s Mains, Barnton and Cramond, said the council had failed to implement the change properly.
He said painted 40mph signs still appeared on Queensferry Road near to the Strachan Road junction.; signs advising motorists of the change to the speed limit had been placed behind overgrown trees; and promised posters to promote the speed limit change had yet to appear.
Cllr Lang said the change from 40 to 30mph on Queensferry Road had been approved - along with a similar reduction on other key routes in the city - by the council’s transport and environment committee in January 2022 after years of safety concerns about speeding traffic and accidents on the road. But the cut in the maximum permitted speed was only implemented this summer.
He said: “It was bad enough that it took three years to get this simple speed limit change put in place. To make matters worse, the implementation has been completely chaotic and confusing.
“It’s now two months since the speed limit change was made. Yet we still have painted signs on the road showing the old 40mph speed limit. Promised posters promoting the new speed limit have yet to appear and the small signs which have been put in place are tucked behind tree branches.
“Edinburgh Council has pretty ambitious plans for the city, not just in terms of improving road safety but around transport generally. How on earth can residents have confidence when something as simple as a change in one road’s speed limit not only takes years to come in but, when it does, is implemented so badly?”
Ninteen roads in the Capital - including Calder Road, Glasgow Road, Sir Harry Lauder Road and the West Approach Road - saw their speed limits cut from June as part of a drive to improve safety on the city’s roads.
The council has quoted statistics which suggest a pedestrian or cyclist has twice the chance of surviving a collision at 30mph compared to 40mph.