Edinburgh roads: 'Scandal' of 8-year wait for safety improvements at roundabout after fatal accident
Safety improvements promised for a city roundabout have still not been delivered - eight years after a pensioner died there.
Alena Faltyskova was visiting Edinburgh in 2017 to celebrate her 70th birthday when she was knocked down by a bus as she crossed the road next to the Davidson’s Mains roundabout.
Following the accident, the council said changes would be made at the junction, including possible zebra crossings. Lib Dem councillor Kevin Lang said the failure to carry out the promised work was a scandal.
He said: "It is now eight years since Alena Faltyskova was tragically knocked over and killed. That came on the back of a whole number of near misses and worries about the roundabout not least because it is on the route to school for both Davidson's Mains Primary and the Royal HIgh.
"Yet not a single spade has been put in the ground to make any changes. We still don't even have a final design available.
"It has been eight years of delay and excuses and reviews. Meanwhile parents of schoolchildren tell me they worry every day about their kids and this increasingly busy roundabout."
He said in February 2024, a design for the safety improvements had been published along with draft traffic orders for consultation. But some residents had wanted to know if a traffic light controlled junction was feasible, so council officers said they would look into that.
"Had the residents and I known at the time that it would mean two years' delay, there is a serious question whether that would have been asked for."
Road safety has been repeatedly described as a priority for the council and there has been an increase in funding and staff.
But Cllr Lang said: “Given all the talk about road safety and putting it first, I think it's scandalous that despite Alena Faltyskova's death, eight years have passed and nothing has happened."
And he is worried that even more delay lies ahead. He said: "I table a question at every full council meeting about this. Up until now I was told repeatedly the work would start in this financial year. But the last time I asked it had become 'as soon as reasonably possible'.
“I fear that is officers beginning to set out that we are going to get through another financial year without any work happening."
The council's transport committee agreed earlier this month to a call by Cllr Lang for an internal audit of the road safety programme after he highlighted repeated delays on a number of projects.
He said: "Record sums of money have gone into the road safety budget, the road safety team has trebled in size, yet we consistently get reports that say they have not been able to deliver things."
Transport convener Stephen Jenkinson said the internal audit would look at the processes to reassure the committee. “There has been some concern around lack of action. There has been increased resource and a lot of money put into that service and I think the committee want to ensure we're getting value for money and projects delivered at a speed we would expect.”
And Cllr Jenkinson said having to wait eight years for the Davidson’s Mains improvements was "not good enough".
He said: "It's disappointing the length of time it has taken to deliver this important project. We're moving towards the final stages now and I look forward to work starting on it as soon as possible."
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