Alternative plan for Edinburgh's Sheriffhall roundabout could halve cost of planned revamp

‘Hamburger’ design proposed with tram flyover

The 'hamburger' design would see City Bypass traffic going straight through the roundabout

A TRAFFIC engineer has proposed an alternative scheme for the Sheriffhall roundabout complete with a flyover for trams at half the current estimated £120 million cost.

The “hamburger” design would route traffic on the City Bypass straight through the roundabout but with traffic signals and an enlarged circulating roundabout for other traffic.

The current plans for revamping the roundabout, which frequently sees long hold-ups, involves a road flyover for bypass traffic. But the project is now being reviewed as part of the Scottish Government’s budget deal with the Greens, who have branded the proposals a “spaghetti junction”.

Paul Penman, a chartered traffic engineer with over 30 years experience, said he had undertaken traffic assessment work on the intersection around 2005/06 as part of the Shawfair development masterplan.

And he said traffic modelling at the time suggested the hamburger style junction would cope with projected traffic flows, cutting traffic queues and travel time and costing £30-£40m. But he said that type of design had not been considered when latest proposals were drawn up.

Now he has written to Transport Secretary Michael Matheson, urging him to look at it.

He said: “This option, if developed and found to be feasible, would save £50m to £60m compared to the solution as currently promoted.”

And he said the capacity required at the roundabout would not have changed dramatically. “The assessment that was done took into account the full Shawfair development and we’re nowhere near that.”

The city council has said it wants the roundabout revamp to include space for a tramline going out to Dalkeith.

Mr Penman said the £60m cost estimate for the hamburger design would not include a tram overpass but a tram flyover would be cheaper than a road flyover, perhaps around £10m.

A Transport Scotland spokesman said Mr Matheson had only recently received the alternative proposal and would reply in due course.

“The new flyover arrangement will separate local traffic, including public transport, from the strategic traffic on the bypass and will allow the traffic on the bypass to flow freely at this location, improving road safety and journey times for all users.

“In addition the proposed new active travel facilities will provide cyclists and pedestrians with their own safer dedicated alternative routes, removing the barrier and transforming the way they cross the A720 City Bypass.

“Significant consultation has taken place with active travel stakeholders over our extensive active travel proposals for the scheme which total two miles of new pedestrian and cycle paths. The scheme will also encourage uptake of bus rather than car travel through improved links to adjacent Park and Ride facilities and reduce bus journey times following re-design of the junction with approximately 75 per cent of strategic traffic removed from the roundabout.”

The council said it looked forward to engaging with Transport Scotland to explore solutions to concerns around the proposed design.