Rethinking our key travel corridors
Edinburgh is one of the fastest growing cities in the UK. By 2030, 37,000 new homes could add over 75,000 people to Edinburgh’s population.
Alongside this, our representative market research found 61% agreement with our proposals to expand the city’s cycle network with 60% thinking that it is important to give bus priorities at junctions.
To meet the demand and fulfil our ambition of being a net zero city by 2030, we need to re-think the way we move people and goods in and around Edinburgh, particularly on our key travel corridors. We need clear principles for how we do this.
Our Future Streets is our approach to help us design projects to improve these corridors, making them more connected, accessible and welcoming for everyone.
How we will balance the demands on space
By providing significantly more space for public places, walking, wheeling, cycling and public transport, and by reducing parking, we can get a better balance along our busy key travel routes into the city centre, like Glasgow Road and Morningside Road.
Importantly, this will help to improve the flows for private cars and freight too.
Our Streetspace Allocation Framework (SAF) will guide us on tackling issues with congestion and provide more travel options that are greener, safer and better for our wellbeing.
It will also help us co-ordinate road resurfacing alongside improvement projects so we can reduce the level of disruption during essential work.
Some projects, such as resurfacing urgently needed due to rapid weather-related damage, can go ahead with minimal changes to current street layouts, while others, particularly the city’s main travel corridors, will see more substantial improvements to street space.
For example, we are looking at proposals for improving the A8 corridor from Roseburn out to the Maybury roundabout. This will include
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town centre improvements for St John’s Road, with better space for shopping, walking, wheeling and cycling
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a safe cycling connection along the whole route, extending the City Centre West to East Link west from Roseburn
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giving bus priority at junctions and using bus lanes to bypass congestion
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improvements to major junctions at Maybury and Drum Brae, including creating safer crossing opportunities for people walking, wheeling and cycling
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supporting measures on surrounding residential streets to reduce ‘rat-running’ through traffic
Every project will involve specific local engagement and consultation so that our work meets the needs of each individual street and local community and contributes positively to the overall integrated networks across the whole city.
