Leith Street Works begin in September

August 20, 2017 10:45 am

We are getting quite close to 2 September when Leith Street will be closed to traffic for ten months, meaning that a diversion route for vehicles round by London Road, Easter Road and Regent Road will be put in place.

This closure is made necessary by the development at Edinburgh St James which has already started. There is a real need to improve the streets, footpaths, pedestrian crossings, to remove the pedestrian footbridge over Leith Street (where is that going to go now?) and install a new deep drainage system.

[tweet_box design=”default”]The top part of Leith Street will be closed to all traffic except pedestrians, cyclists and emergency services. [/tweet_box]

Martin Perry, Director of Development, Edinburgh St James, said: “We fully understand the disruption that is caused by a road closure of this nature, and we would like to thank all those who may be impacted for their patience over this period.

“Nevertheless, it is clear that this closure provides the most efficient solution, and that in containing these works to a 10- month period, we are preventing prolonged and severely restricted access along Leith Street, whilst significantly reducing disruption in the street in the future.

“This approach will allow us to reconfigure and renew the whole Leith Street corridor, future proofing the street by creating a high quality and much-improved environment, which will better serve Edinburgh’s pedestrians, public transport and cyclists for years to come.”

This work was approved by the Transport and Environment Committee in March 2017. The cost of improving Leith Street is around £6 million and will include widened high quality natural stone footways, segregated cycle ways, reprofiled roads and repositioned pedestrian crossings.

The Transport Committee agreed that the best way to approach this major road work programme was to close the top part of Leith Street rather than constant changes to the road diversions. There will be one diversion in place for the ten month period, although if the road works are not completed within that time the council says it will reopen the road and there will be contraflows put in place.

There is a leaflet showing the diversion route below. Access to Greenside Row for all traffic and entry to Calton Road from Leith Street for local businesses and parking will be maintained.