Going back to school on LTNs - John McLellan

Carrick Knowe primary school

Edinburgh Council has confirmed the controversial scheme, with its bollards and bus gate, has actually increased traffic by 6.5 per cent since its introduction in May 2023.

Game over for the scheme then? Not quite, as officials point to a 9.2 per cent drop in the streets immediately around Carrick Knowe primary school, which it says had been its aim all along.

Monitoring indicates there has been a fall in traffic speeds in the area, which might have been caused by congestion, and a 3.6 per cent increase in cycling and 2.2 per cent rise in walking. It also claimed there was a three per cent rise in the number of children using active travel get to school, to 71 per cent.

So, winners and losers, but if improving the streets around the school was the goal, then why was a wider scheme imposed, and why was it not badged and sold as a school streets calming project? More people might have bought into that and it would have been much harder to argue against.

The scheme was conceived and implemented in the wake of the pandemic, driven by a dogmatic administration, and now there is a new regime and a new transport convener, surely the least that can be expected at the next committee this month is a compromise which protects the school but releases the pressure on the wider district.