Calls to abandon an £800,000 scheme to reduce traffic in Edinburgh have been made as campaigners allege it has caused an increase in cars. Vice-chairman of Accessible Corstorphine for Everyone, Peter Roberts, claims that the low traffic neighbourhood initiative has been an “expensive failure” which has created road hazards in the local suburban area. The City of Edinburgh Council confirmed that since the pilot scheme began in Corstorphine in 2023, there has been a 6.5% increase in traffic. However, they also stated that there has been a 9.2% decrease in traffic surrounding the local primary school- the aim of the scheme.
The pilot project introduced traffic restrictions, wider pavements, a bus gate, and more seating and planting to incentivise more active travel in the area. The council carried out a monitoring exercise which showed a speed reduction in traffic within the area, a 3.6% increase in cycling, and a 2.2% increase in walking. Overall, there was a 3% increase in active travel for pupils attending primary school in the area, with 71% of pupils now walking or cycling. While Roberts acknowledged the benefits of a reduction in traffic around the school, he noted that only 300 people lived on those streets out of 22,000 in the surrounding area.
Councillors will vote on whether to make the scheme permanent at a committee meeting on 24 September. Roberts had called for the proposal to be scrapped. He maintained that the scheme has resulted in more, not less, traffic, pointing to the 0.5% higher increase in traffic within the low traffic neighbourhood compared to the average surge in the rest of western Edinburgh. Roberts further alleged that the council’s survey was biased and insufficient in size, as it only polled pedestrians’ views and not those of car owners, business owners, nor people relying on visits from carers
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