Edinburgh's Spaces for People schemes could become permanent

Edinburgh City Council has approved the first steps towards making its controversial Spaces for People traffic management programme permanent.

In May 2020 the Scottish government announced funding for Spaces for People programmes, which aimed to provide safe options for essential journeys during the coronavirus pandemic.

Since April, the council has used the £5m it received from the Scottish government to introduce various road closures and temporary traffic measures using emergency coronavirus powers.

Some of these measures have proved incredibly controversial, with several sparking community campaigns against them.

Other measures, particularly in areas that experience serious traffic congestion or speeding, have been broadly welcomed by residents.

Now, at a meeting of the council’s transport committee on Thursday January 28, councillors approved plans to launch a city-wide consultation on which traffic measures and road closures residents may wish to keep.

Councillors have also voted to approve changes to two existing traffic arrangements in the city, including:

• Braid Road – the existing road closure is set to be opened to motorised, one-way traffic, in a southbound direction.

• Tollcross Town Centre – cancellation of the planned pavement widening work on Earl Grey Street, to allow for southbound cycle lane markings.

Furthermore, councillor have rubber-stamped new scheme to be installed as part of Space for People, including:

• Silverknowes Road – introduction of cycle lanes.

• Slateford Road – segregated cycle lane infrastructure between Allan Park Road and Dundee Street.

• Granton Square to Marine Drive – introduction of advisory cycle lane on West Shore Road, and a closed section of road between the Forth Quarter Park and the Gypsy Brae Recreation area.

• Braid Hills Road, Braid Hills Drive and Liberton Drive – introduction of bidirectional cycle lanes on the westbound lane, with segregation between

• Braid Farm Road and Liberton Tower. The central hatching will be removed, and the speed limit reduced from 40mph to 30mph.

• Bellevue to Canonmills – this proposal is an addition to the Broughton Street/Roundabout Commonplace scheme to extend the provision of segregated cycle facilities down to the Rodney Street junction.

• Meadow Place Road/Ladywell Road Junction – installation of cycle markings and segregation at the junction and along Meadow Place Road.

• Orchard Brae Uphill Cycleway – would complete the link between cycle provision on the A90 and Crewe Road South.

Conservative opposition councillors tried to amend some of the plans of the ruling SNP/Labour coalition, including calling for an immediate full opening of Braid Road, and a pause on all of the proposed new schemes.

The proposer of the amendment, Tory Pentland Hills councillor Susan Webber, spoke out at the meeting against the council’s plans.

Councillor Webber said: "For months and months, and recently, with increased frequency, the convener, the vice convener, and members of the SNP and Labour administration, and the Greens, have repeatedly stated that these are all temporary schemes and that we have absolutely nothing to worry about.

"It now seems that we were right. We have all been misled and the real motivations have now been exposed.

"As we frankly stated from the outset, and anticipated, but we kept getting shooed away.

"The administration now wants to take these schemes, some of which have proved extremely controversial, and carry out some sort of accelerated consultation and bring it back with a report in April.

"The administration is using any tactic possible to get these made permanent.

"Why rush? Why the secrecy in keeping the papers behind closed doors and released at the last minute? Why indeed."

Convener of the transport committee, and SNP councillor for Liberton and Gilmerton, Lesley Macinnes, said: "I must say I am very dismayed by the tone that has been struck, in the moving of these amendments.

"Because we’ve gone from a detailed, professional conversation about the contents of a complex and difficult project, straight into political attack, and I don’t think it serves us at all well as a city, and in terms of what we’re trying to achieve with this project, and what we’re trying to deliver to the city.

"I understand that there is an enormous range of views out there about why we’re doing this project, the validity of it, the continuing validity of it in the face of changes around our pandemic environment – and I understand all of that, but as a council administration we have a responsibility to do the right thing for the city.

"This is a set of powers that have been given to us by the Scottish Government to implement on behalf of the people who live and work and interact with Edinburgh.

"So to have references to secrecy, about this ‘desperate move to shift from temporary to permanent’, I’ve noticed an increase in personalisation around this conversation – but the one I want to pick up on is people saying we’re ‘moving against the car’ – this is utter nonsense.

"If we wanted to use this as a vehicle to remove all cars from the city it would look very different to the proposals put forward today. That is quite clearly not the case."

However, the amendment, seconded by Inverleith councillor Iain Whyte, was voted down by seven votes to three.

A start date for the consultation, or the means of consulting, have not been published but the transport committee is expecting the results of the consultation to be presented at the committee’s meeting in April.

The assessment criteria includes asking: does the project encourage walking and/or cycling; what are the project’s impacts on businesses; and what are the project’s impacts on disabled street users?