School pavement parking banned at Boroughmuir High

Councillors have '˜put aside' concerns raised by a local resident and backed proposals to stop motorists parking along a route to a new high school.

Steps are being taken at Boroughmuir High

Edinburgh City Council will push ahead and install double yellow lines at St Peter’s Place to help improve traffic flow along the road and the Viewforth Bridge to Boroughmuir High School.

The pavement was widened to cater for more pupils walking to the new school, which has meant the lanes for traffic have been narrowed, but vehicles are often parked on the pavement.

Local resident Nick Simpson objected to the plans, claiming the recent changes to the road layout had meant St Peter’s Place was “not a safe school route”.

In a letter to the council, Mr Simpson said: “Vehicles will continue to use the new double yellow lines in exactly the same way because there is no other option, thus negating any proposed improvements.

“The parking problem has been in effect ‘engineered’ (or not) by the changes you have made without forethought and while restricting parking may alleviate some of these issues, it will be at the expense of local residents.”

Mr Simpson added: “The problem is St Peter’s Place is not a safe school route.

“Since the area remains an active regeneration zone (Fountainbridge, new Boroughmuir, Old Boroughmuir after decamp), we anticipate the continued use of the road by some very large articulated vehicles for the foreseeable future, certainly over the next five to eight years.”

Mr Simpson quotes the council as stating “the upgrading of waiting restrictions at this location would result in enhancing road safety and assist vehicle and pedestrian movement”.

He added: “Having identified the ‘real’ problem above, I fail to see how your proposals will solve anything, thus rendering this part of your statement misguided or plainly false.”

The resident, who has lived locally for more than 25 years, suggested Viewforth and St Peter’s Place should only be open to northbound traffic via a single lane.

The South East Locality Committee of the city council agreed to push ahead with the double yellow lines, but conceded Mr Simpson’s objection raised “serious concerns”.

Conservative Councillor Jo Mowat said: “I think it’s something the city really needs to consider because otherwise we’re just going to end up with more double parking because we’re not making facilities available.

“I thought the objection raised some really important issues. I’m happy to dismiss this, but I do think we need to take those issues forward  in some form.”

Green Cllr Melanie Main said other residents were keen for the double yellow lines to be installed.

She said: “There are hundreds of children walking down that street to school in the morning that are being forced into the road. It is a dangerous situation and this is something that we really do need to address.

“There is only one objection and I think the local community is very keen that this is done as quickly as possible.”

David Bol , Local Democracy Reporting Service