'Disgraceful': traffic lights left broken for over a week on Crewe Road North

A broken set of traffic signals that have gone unfixed on Crewe Road North for over a week has been labelled a disgrace by a neighbourhood residents group.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

The signals are situated at the Leonardo UK end of Crewe Road North and failure has been caused by a power fault – since November 7.

This has left residents furious as they claim to have notified Scottish Power and Edinburgh City Council around a week ago.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

TRIM & FOWP, a residents group, contacted the Evening News regarding the problem and added that a set of lights outside Drylaw Police station were also in need of urgent repair.

Broken traffic signals left without repair for over a weekBroken traffic signals left without repair for over a week
Broken traffic signals left without repair for over a week

But within hours of the Evening News and local councillors being contacted - the Drylaw lights were repaired.

A spokesperson for the volunteer-led group said they had been contacted by ‘extremely concerned’ parents and one resident who was struggling to successfully cross the street with her guide dog.

They said: “You have to wonder if this issue would have been attended to sooner if it had arisen in a more affluent community.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“We had contacted both the council and Scottish Power over a week ago to have both traffic signals fixed - it is a disgrace.”

Broken traffic lights on Crewe Road North have not been fixed for over a weekBroken traffic lights on Crewe Road North have not been fixed for over a week
Broken traffic lights on Crewe Road North have not been fixed for over a week

A spokesperson for SP Energy Networks: “We’ve carried out a number of repairs at this location, which have unfortunately only provided a temporary solution. We’re actively working to put a permanent fix in place, which includes some overnight working, and are doing everything we can to fully restore the traffic light function as soon as possible and minimise the impact on the local community. We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused and thank drivers and pedestrians for their patience and cooperation.”

A city council spokesperson said: “Our traffic signals team were notified of a fault in the traffic signals outside Drylaw Police Station on the evening of November 15 and repaired them within 90 minutes.

“We appreciate residents’ concerns around the outstanding repair required for the traffic signals at Crewe Road North and we are in contact with Scottish Power, who are responsible for the power supply to these signals, to ensure they carry out the repair as quickly as possible.”

A message from the Editor:Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.