Author: Sally Millar

There are a few aspects of the Leith Low Traffic Neighbourhood that still have ‘temporary’ status, and could perhaps still be overturned. You must send in your views before 8th April. They don’t make it easy for you – no clear questions on the Consultation Hub – you need to email in with your views. But please, do take the time to do this!

How to respond

Leith Connections  – Low Traffic Neighbourhood
https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/cycling-walking-projects-1/leith-connections/5
Email your views on the Experimental Traffic Order (eg. on the bus gate on Links Place) and/ or general views on the low traffic neighbourhood to Edinburgh.Consultation@projectcentre.co.uk
and copy to leithconnections@edinburgh.gov.uk

We are aware that the community holds mixed views on the Low Traffic Neighbourhood overall, but there does seem to be consensus on one particular issue – the ‘bus gate’ on Links Place. The Community Council discussed this at our recent meeting and agreed to share the view that we find the bus gate to be unnecessary and unhelpful – potentially dangerous – and would like to see this overturned, with Links Place returned to two way traffic, for the following reasons. But of course, if you disagree, feel free to comment here below, and to send in your views to the consultation.

• The bus gate is dangerous. Because of the bus gate, all traffic (including buses, though excluding taxis) trying to head west is forced to turn right into Salamander Place. This creates a very congested and dangerous junction at the corner of Links Place / Salamander Place / Links Gardens.
• The Salamander Place roadway was not designed as a major traffic through route, and is not fit for purpose;  it is cobbled and has many large holes and bumps along its length. Two way bus traffic is making the surface worse every day. It is dangerous for pedestrians as it is quite wide, but there are no crossing points except at the junction with Salamander Street.
• Because of the location of St. Marys Primary School nearby, many children heading into and home from school have to cross the road at this dangerous junction. The school crossing patrol officer on duty at this corner often comments on how dangerous the junction at this corner is. Locals often observe chaos at the junction as buses and lorries have to ‘queue up’ on either side of the road narrowing build out on Links Place to make the turn.
• The bus gate on Links Place actually makes Links Gardens much more dangerous for pedestrians, including pupils, staff and parents at St. Mary’s Primary School. All traffic coming up Salamander Place (including lorries from the docks etc.) now has to turn left along past the entrance to the school.
• The bus gate is unnecessary. Links Place is not a particularly busy route for traffic anyway, since the introduction of the trams and the consequent closure of the south end of Constitution Street to traffic – plus the later closure of Tolbooth Wynd and Burgess Street, Sandport Bridge etc. – there is no ‘through route’ anyway westward along Links Place, so the traffic using it would be mainly local people, rather than it ever becoming a ‘rat run’.
• This stretch of Links Place is not in fact a densely populated residential area anyway, so it is unclear why this particular stretch was chosen for extra  ‘protection’ from traffic. There is park all along one side, and the other side is largely taken up with offices (Great Michael House), plus a few detached houses, and only one block of tenement flats. Yet at the same time, the bus gate has actually made things far worse – not better – for nearby neighbours, by forcing traffic to reroute through the very densely residential area behind Links Place (Fox Street, Pattison Street, Elbe Street) with narrow streets, and for Salamander Place which has a large residential population in very large blocks of flats on both sides.
• Closing Fox Street etc. to through traffic as well  – as has been threatened – would make things even worse, as then there would simply be no way for local people to get to where they are trying to go! Even thinking of closing off the Fox Street route is an admission of failure by the Leith Connections Team as they have to recognise that the closure of Links Place west bound is not working well.
• There is already a serious issue in Leith of ‘lack of resilience’ in the face of unexpected events. For example, if road repairs, utility based road works, a fire or road accidents take place, there are simply not enough routes left open in Leith to let traffic bypass the trouble spot and find another route. This leads to great congestion and delays, extra emissions etc. Keeping Links Place open would help to reduce this problem if it occurs.
• And finally  – There is no bus that ever goes along Links Place anyway (nor will they in future, because they can’t get round the corner at Constitution Street by the Police Station, where the pavement has been built out), so it makes no sense to reserve this stretch of roadway for buses.