Tram chaos forces council u-turn

Edinburgh City council has been forced to find new solutions to the mounting pressure placed upon the city’s traffic network by the construction of tramlines. A meeting was held on 6 October to establish the main grievances and work towards finding ways around problems caused by the increasing numbers of diversions throughout the city.

The meeting was prompted by the chaos which ensued following the closure of the Mound/Princes Street junction on 2 October.

Jenny Dawe, leader of Edinburgh City Council, was forced to make an apology to those who faced lengthy delays on the first day of the closure. The Liberal Democrat councillor said: “This is the biggest construction project Scotland has ever seen, and we apologise again for the delays last Wednesday. I can assure drivers and travellers that actions have been taken to ensure we do everything we can to stop this happening again.”

The meeting resulted in development of a new peer group consisting of representatives from the police, Lothian Buses and Transport Initiatives Edinburgh (TIE). The aim of the group will to be to formulate further plans in order to avoid the delays witnessed on 2 October, when many passengers were forced to walk part of their route due to severe congestion caused by roadworks.

Further apologies came from Willie Gallagher, executive chairman of TIE, the group which is overseeing the tram project. He said "Despite careful modelling and planning, it was clear by the morning rush hour that the temporary traffic measures were not fully working.”

“I would like to apologise for the delays to both bus passengers and drivers.”

Mike Pringle, Liberal Democrat MSP for Edinburgh South, also believed that the meeting was positive. He added to Cllr Dawe’s comment, saying: “It became evident very quickly last week that there were problems, and I was delighted that the City of Edinburgh Council took swift action in calling talks between the key stakeholders.”

It is estimated that the road works on the junction will continue until the end of November 2008, however, there are further works set to commence in January next year, when Princes Street is to be closed to traffic .

Monday’s meeting established one of the main reasons for the severe disruption as poor communication of information to motorists, and the new peer group will aim to ensure that there is clearer information available regarding the diversions and the roads that are to be closed. A further proposal from the group suggested the introduction of extra Park and Ride services to complement the existing facilities already in place at Straiton, Hermiston, Ingliston, Sheriffhall, Newcraighall and Ferrytoll.

This complies with Lothian Buses’ request that, where possible, drivers should use alternative means of transportation. The company has, however, stated they will endeavor to work with the business community to ensure deliveries to affected areas are possible, but it is unlikely that this will bring comfort to staff unable to reach their places of work without significant delays.

The meeting has undoubtedly brought about fresh hope for an end to the chaos, with Mr Pringle remaining positive about the future of the tram network: “Once complete the tram network has the potential to revolutionise Edinburgh’s transport network. With the new peer review group now in place to oversee traffic management plans, I hope that, in the meantime, disruption will be kept to a minimum.”