'Road diggers and grave diggers are the only secure jobs in Edunburgh' - Readers' Comments

Edinburgh City Council is planning carriageway improvements and traffic signal upgrades on the junction of High Street, Canongate, Jeffrey Street and St Mary’s Street – with work expected to take up to 35 weeks. Readers were not happy...
Lengthy radworks being planned for the High Street have angered readersLengthy radworks being planned for the High Street have angered readers
Lengthy radworks being planned for the High Street have angered readers

Dougle Reid: They will literally drive people out of Edinburgh along with businesses and all those that are left will have to pick up the bill for all the lost revenue. I have lived in Edinburgh all my life but enough is enough, it’s time to move – reluctantly – as the council make money or waste it by using changing and taxing every space they deemed to be theirs – ie green spaces, businesses changed to brownfield sites for ever increasing housing, free parking transferred to meters and permits where folk who have lived all their years have to pay to park at their door. The list goes on.

Colin Ramsay: Translates as “we’re putting in more useless unusable cycle lanes and ugly bollards to further disrupt the life of normal people”. Edinburgh must be great if you live in Marchmont and work from home or occasionally cycle to your office in the city centre.

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Jon Clark: Why is it that after many months of lockdown the council decide to start 35 weeks of major roadworks now? It’s lunatic. Lockdown is about to end so the council decide to cause yet more congestion and traffic chaos on top of the insanity they’ve already got going on across the city. This seems like yet another deliberate attempt to create congestion and chaos for road users.

Atholl Cunningham: Surely if they knew these works had to be done why didn't they start them in January when we all knew we would be in lockdown until at least March. Then they would be nearly finished and cause less disruption. Is the council’s planning/works department on permanent lockdown in the sense that they do not think ahead?

Bill Johnston: 35 weeks of additional disruption to the years the people of Edinburgh have already put up with. This SNP administration couldn't care less about the residents of Edinburgh. Improvements mean making things better, not worse.

Janet Adams: Road diggers and grave diggers are the only secure jobs in Edunburgh.

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Alastair Moir: If you can't disrupt the city with the Fringe, it can be done with roadworks!

Joshua Beal: It’s not roadworks if it looks like your granny’s handmade quilt afterwards.

Darren Shields: Excellent. Let’s get this city back on its feet after a year of economic downfall and many lost businesses. Oh wait, instead let’s shut major ways into said city for 35 weeks. Let’s kick a city and struggling businesses while they’re down for very vaguely detailed ‘works’.

David Turnbull: Edinburgh has had permanent roadworks for about the last 15 years. What’s the difference?

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Brian Mitchell: Edinburgh Council will close Edinburgh to all except cyclists. No shops or businesses will be left, which may mean it qualifies for a stage in the Tour de France . . . the avoiding potholes stage.

Barry Macpherson: It doesn't say at all what these works are but I'm sure we can guess . . . Permanent so-called "temporary Covid-19 Spaces for People except anyone who needs a car or other vehicle to get around" bollards and cycle lanes impossible for a reasonable flow of traffic.

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