Total Cowgate traffic ban is overreaction
The horrific accident on The Cowgate last weekend has led to renewed calls for traffic to be banned from what is an undeniably chaotic street when the bars are in full swing.
Although it is too early to draw firm conclusions, it’s already known that the poor man was hit by a bus, not by a speeding driver, so only a total ban on all vehicles would prevent a repetition.
Such tragedies are thankfully rare, and for that reason such an extreme measure would be an overreaction, with traffic displacement and widespread disruption the inevitable result.
The city council has chosen to end through traffic on George IV Bridge, so The Cowgate is a primary route to Waverley station, the closure of which would push traffic around the Meadows to The Pleasance. That’s why a plan to do just that was dropped.
So what, say anti-car campaigners, use public transport. But this tragedy involved a bus, and as long as key infrastructure like a main railway station is in the middle of the city, access for one vehicle or another is essential.
What is an issue for buses at the Candlemaker Row junction ─ and without detailed information it’s impossible to know if this was a factor on Saturday ─ is the very tight mini roundabout. When buses swing round they can come perilously close to the pavement and there is a strong argument for reducing the size of coaches allowed on such narrow roads.
As for sharing videos of such a tragedy, it really shouldn’t need to be explained.