Council quizzed over bizarre Welsh traffic instructions

Pedestrians have been left baffled over instructions written on a temporary road crossing in the Capital.

A temporary crossing buttons at the roadworks in Rodney Street has Welsh instructions. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

The traffic lights stationed by the roadworks at the junction of Rodney Street and Broughton Road have instructions written on them to help people cross the road.

But as well as having the standard English message that reads “push button wait for signal”, the same phrase is written in Welsh instead of the expected Gaelic.

One pedestrian, who noticed the sign this morning, told the Evening News: “It was early in the morning and I thought I had misread it. I thought ‘that Gaelic doesn’t look right’ and then I realised it was Welsh.

The temporary roadworks at Rodney Street. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

“I’m all for making people feel welcome and uniting the Celtic languages but I’m not sure how helpful it’ll be to most people.”

When asked about the instructions, Edinburgh City Council revealed that the message was left on the equipment in error.

A spokesperson said: “The equipment was produced for a prior job undertaken by the contractor and was used in error in this case.

“The Welsh text will be covered in interest of clarity.”

However, Bòrd na Gàidhlig, the national Gaelic Development Agency who work closely with the Scottish Government, Scottish Parliament and local authorities, found no problem, and even found something inspiring in the small oddity.

The CEO of the agency, Shona MacLennan said: “It’s good to see that contractors have equipment which recognises that the UK has more than one language and we’re pleased to see that our Welsh friends have the opportunity to read this.”

Regardless of the conflicting thoughts on the matter, the council thanks the residents for their patience while the improvements are carried out.

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