Council monitors East London Street

January 5, 2024 5:52 pm

The council will discuss next week whether to take any action on East London Street where residents have long complained about the noise levels of cars and buses travelling over the setts there.

The council has now conducted traffic monitoring on the street over one week in November finding that there was a significant reduction between the count conducted in 2019 and the 2023 numbers. Over the week only 25 HGV vehicles used the street, and although more buses used the westbound side of the road the total usage amounted to 2.2% of all traffic. As a result council officers are recommending no action to resurface the street at present.

Lothian were asked to ensure that fewer buses used the street which is near to their Annandale Street depot and the bus company also took steps to ensure that their drivers adhered to the speed limit. Lothian will also undertake to review their routes to minimise use of the street for their scheduled services.

The issue arose from various complaints over the years and a petition lodged with the council last summer asking that the council addressed the excessive traffic, “particularly out of service buses using East London Street to avoid road works and closures associated with various transportation projects”.

The street is a setted street unlike the continuation to the west which has asphalt down the middle and setts only in the parking areas. While Leith Walk was closed East London Street was used as a diversion route and this has led to damage to the road surface. Some of the properties are single glazed as the buildings are listed and residents said this meant the noise level was more of a problem to them.

At the time New Town and Broughton Community Council objected that the council had not listened to the primary concern of residents – namely the noise and vibration caused by the level of traffic passing over the road which they said had not been maintained for three years.

The options which may be looked at include the resurfacing of the street with setts, or with a combination of asphalt. The cost differentiation ranges from £0.25million to £1.3 million, and funding would have to come out of the revenue budget. But the council’s Transport Convener said that he would not like the fact that a group lobbied the council to give the street any priority. Cllr Arthur said that officers and the committee should use the normal procedure to assess which streets should be resurfaced and when.

The council is also undertaking air quality monitoring on the street and the data will be fed into the 2024 annual report.

All papers for the Transport and Environment Committee meeting can be read here.