Edinburgh City Council urged to deal with flooding causing accidents on Newhaven Road

Council chiefs have been asked to deal with severe flooding on Newhaven road which has caused several accidents in the past five years, according to a local.

The Council confirmed they would continue to monitor river flows after a local resident took to Twitter to ask when they would deal with the flooding on Newhaven Road.

The resident wrote: “I’ve lived here for 5 years and it’s always flooded.

"It was made worse when the new build flats were made and parts of the street were resurfaced.”

“Cars always go down this street at such a speed, and sometimes don’t see the puddle. In the last 5 years I’ve lived here I’ve seen so many crashes and people being knocked over".

“That street is such a hazard though, even without the rain. There needs to be decent speed measures put in place.”

The local resident claimed that there had been a number of accidents since 2020 on the small street.

A local resident captured the flooding on Newhaven Road earlier today.

The individual, who lives on Burns Place, said that water is currently coming into their communal stairway. They noted that this was “a regular occurrence”.

A City of Edinburgh Council spokesperson said: “We make every effort to respond to the effects of any heavy rain as quickly as possible, with gully teams out and about tackling any blocked or overwhelmed road gullies. Our Flood Prevention team closely monitor the weather forecast and river levels and are check culvert grilles too.

“We’ll continue to do everything we can to minimise the impact on the city’s roads and to monitor river flows”.

A spokesperson for Scottish Water said: “One of our Inspectors attended last night to investigate the water network for any bursts which could have caused the flooding on Burns Place, Newhaven.

The flooding, which is a regular occurrence, has caused many car accidents over the years, according to a local.

“It was reported back that there was no indications of bursts on the network and the water pooling on the road was surface water after a recent heavy downpour.

“Our inspector checked the road side gullies which appeared to be choked and not allowing any of the surface water to drain away.

"We attempted to clear these but don’t have the correct machinery to do so. We reported this to Edinburgh Council Roads Department and asked them to assist.”

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