Edinburgh Sheriffhall junction: Cost of flyover could be two and a half times original estimate, claims MSP

Lothian Tory MSP Miles Briggs said although money was allocated in 2018 from the Edinburgh city region deal, there was no official estimate of the current cost for the proposed flyover at the most congested junction on the Edinburgh City bypass.

He said: "The initial budget for the project was £120 million, but, with inflation, it is now likely to exceed that and will reach a figure between £200 million and £300 million."

Traffic at Sheriffhall on the A720, Edinburgh City Bypass (Photo: Traffic Scotland).

In a debate he sponsored on the issue in the Scottish Parliament, Mr Briggs told MSPs:"Sheriffhall has been steeped in controversy from the very beginning. Forty years ago, when the roundabout was being constructed, many people - including people who worked on the original planning of the road, whom I have met - made it clear that a roundabout was not appropriate for the bypass and would cause congestion.

“Seventeen years ago, in 2008, an upgrade to the junction was first flagged as a priority as part of the Scottish Government’s strategic transport projects review. It then took 10 years for the Government to commit funding to the project.

“In the seven years since that funding was committed, however, absolutely nothing has been done to alleviate the needless waste of time and money that commuters face every day, as well as the pollution that is caused."

He said a public inquiry in 2023 pushed ministerial approval back further and the government's stated position was that the unpublished recommendations of the inquiry were “under active consideration”.

An artist's impression of the proposed Sheriffhall roundabout flyover

But Mr Briggs said. "Twelve months without a decision is not consideration—it is dither and delay.

"As a Lothian MSP, I continue to be contacted by exasperated constituents, who cannot understand why such an obvious infrastructure problem has not been resolved."

Christine Grahame, SNP MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, backed the call for progress with the project.

And she told the chamber: "Way back before the Sheriffhall roundabout was born, City of Edinburgh District Council rejected, pre-construction, the proposal for an inbuilt underpass to future proof the roundabout, advising that it was not worth the cost. How much easier it would have been had that proposal gone ahead."

Lothian Tory MSP Sue Webber blamed the Greens for delaying the Sherriffhall plans. She claimed the Scottish Government and Edinburgh City Council were "in thrall to the Green Party’s anti-car agenda".

And she said: "Following the submission of 2,771 objections to the scheme’s draft orders, it has come to light that, according to Transport Scotland, a high proportion of those objections, which sparked the hearing, were submitted through the Scottish Green Party website."

Lothian Labour MPS Foysol Choudhury said it was "not acceptable" that seven years had passed since a commitment was made to the upgrade but there had been no spades in the ground or timeline decided.

He said: “I want the Government to reaffirm its commitment to the project and, for safety, the economy and road users, commit to a timeline for its completion.”

Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop, replying to the debate, said she was fully aware of the challenges and frustrations faced by all users at the Sheriffhall junction. "I, too, have often made the journey along the city bypass and through the Sheriffhall roundabout.

“The standard of the junction has always been out of step with the rest of the Edinburgh city bypass. However, that was a consequence of complexities arising from an underlying geological fault and historical mine workings, and it led at the time of construction to the choice of a roundabout rather than the grade-separated junctions used elsewhere on the bypass."

She said the proposed improvements at Sheriffhall would accelerate growth in the region and allow easier movement by public transport, pedestrians and cyclists.

But she said: "Although I am keen to see progress being made, it is essential that we follow due process, because not doing so would be a risk. The statutory right for individuals and organisations to have their say on proposals and the need for ministers to take those matters into account before reaching a final determination cannot be set aside.

"I am very sympathetic to the frustrations about the length of time that the process is taking, but it is not possible, at this time, to give members the timeline that they understandably want."

But she said she would meet a cross-party group of MSPs with an interest in the project when it was appropriate to do so.