Edinburgh will be better, safer and greener in just five years' time – Lesley Macinnes

Everyone’s aware of COP26 coming to Glasgow very soon. It’s a valuable opportunity for the world to focus on climate change, what steps we can take to limit or reverse the damage we’ve caused and how to cooperate internationally to implement real solutions.

Edinburgh Council is going to create around 85km of new and upgraded cycle routes (Picture: Jon Savage)

Most people now recognise that we must change how we go about our lives, how our businesses are run and what choices we make from day to day.

The council has examined these issues for Edinburgh with a very clear eye. Working as partners with many different organisations including Edinburgh’s Climate Commission, we’re developing an effective strategy to help Edinburgh become a net-zero carbon city by 2030.

Some of the important challenges that we face now include how we make our transport inside the city more sustainable and less costly to our health and quality of life as well as the planet.

Just as the world leaders at COP26 will be doing, Edinburgh must find a way forward that embraces change positively.

Last week we agreed a fantastic costed programme of new infrastructure building to help people walk more, wheel and cycle more.

Whenever we ask Edinburgh residents, they tell us that a cleaner city with sustainable options for getting around is what they want. We know too that approximately 45 per cent of residents don’t have access to a car, relying instead on walking, wheeling and cycling or public transport to go to work or school, go shopping or go and have fun.

The £118 million funding that we have secured, will help us provide much better walking or cycling conditions, improving safety on our streets and give more people more confidence to try new ways to move around their community. Almost £100 million of that funding will come from the Scottish government and will be spent over the next five years.

It’s a clear indication of their faith in our ability to deliver real, positive change for our capital city.

So, what will we spent it on?

By the end of five years, people will be able to see major improvements for pedestrians on, for example, The Mound and George Street. Projects designed to improve the public realm (what a place feels and looks like and what facilities it delivers) in places like Pennywell Road and Wester Hailes Road. Widening pavements, for example, makes an enormous difference to how people feel about an area, especially when it is busy and crowded.

We’ll build around 85km of new and upgraded cycle routes, extending and improving the existing 211km to create a city centre network which connects effectively to other city areas such as Leith, Edinburgh Park/Gyle and the Bioquarter around the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary). We will also make improvements around 35 primary and secondary schools.

And there will be some smaller but no less significant improvements. We have, for example, committed to extending our programme installing dropped kerbs across the city. These help anyone in a wheelchair, mobility scooter or pushing a pram to get to where they need to go.

In five years’ time the city will look different – better, safer and greener – and easier to get around, however how you choose to do it.

Cllr Lesley Macinnes, SNP councillor for Liberton and Gilmerton, transport and environment convener, City of Edinburgh Council.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.