Road works and road closures in Edinburgh this week

August 31, 2019 3:56 pm

There are still a lot of roads closed in the city centre owing to works by Scottish Gas and others.
The City of Edinburgh Council EdinTravel control room has shared the list with us and you can read that in full below.

As well as this the city has become a film lot, as the cast and crew of Fast and Furious are out on the streets from this weekend making the next blockbuster.

The streets affected by filming are Waterloo Place, South College Street, High Street and Lawnmarket betewen George IV Bridge and Cockburn Street at various times as set out below.

The four-week filming schedule will involve nearly 800 crew members including 375 local hires working on location over the course of the shoot, which started filming in London in June.

Edinburgh’s film office Film Edinburgh and the City of Edinburgh Council have been working closely with the production team for the past nine months to facilitate all aspects of the production schedule and needs across the iconic World Heritage site locations. This will be one of the largest and most complex shoots ever to film in the historic Old and New Towns of Edinburgh.

One of the world’s most successful movie franchises, this newest chapter in the Fast & Furious series stars Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris’ Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel, Charlize Theron, Helen Mirren and John Cena.

The film’s production team is making a concerted effort to minimise the impact of filming on the public while securing the required shots needed for the film. The production team has been in close contact with the Council and Film Edinburgh, alongside local businesses and residents in and around the key filming locations, to ensure the production’s shooting schedule limits disruption while ensuring public safety is the uppermost consideration.

Director Justin Lin said: “Edinburgh is such a unique and iconic location and we are incredibly excited about the opportunity to celebrate it in the Fast & Furious saga. The support from all local agencies, businesses and the community has been invaluable in helping to coordinate this shoot. We appreciate the entire city’s help and are excited to have such a beautiful and historic city in the film.”

Councillor Cammy Day, Depute Leader of City of Edinburgh Council, said: “Edinburgh has provided a backdrop for some exciting and high-profile film and TV productions over recent years. This promotes the city to audiences around the world, boosts the local economy and is great for us to see our home town on the big screen!

“Productions are extremely exciting for film fans in the city and the Council will continue to work closely with the production team to ensure there is limited impact on the everyday lives of our citizens while filming takes place.”

Rosie Ellison, head of Film Edinburgh, said: “Following our involvement with Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, we could demonstrate that the city has the ability to host such a large-scale production but were nonetheless thrilled when the Fast & Furious filmmakers confirmed that Edinburgh had been chosen as a filming location for the next outing of this hugely popular franchise. We will continue to work closely with the production to ensure its smooth-running of the location shoot across the city.”