Great Junction Street, Easter Road and Shore being considered as locations for temporary pavement widening by City of Edinburgh Council due to Covid-19

The City of Edinburgh Council has published papers making known it is considering adapting Great Junction Street, Easter Road & Shore as part of its response to Covid-19.  The plans being considered would see a widening of pavements to allow more space for pedestrians to observe social distancing measures. The adaptations being considered follow on from the recent closure of Links Gardens.

Click here to view the thirty three page report.The information relating to Leith is on page 10.

The report will be considered by Councillors at the Councils Policy and Sustainability Committee on Thursday 14 May 2020 at 10am. Members of our community can watch the meeting live on the Council website, click here to view the broadcast on the day.

If any members of our community have views on the plans under consideration there is still time to let your local City of Edinburgh Councillors know.

You can make your opinion know by commenting on this post, we’ll let local Councillors know where to look to see your comments. Or, you can email any of the Councillors using their email addresses as listed here;

Leith Councillors (Great Junction Street, Shore & part of Easter Road):

Leith Walk Councillors (part of Easter Road)

Update 14/5/20: Please note that commenting on this post closed at 18:00 on 14/5/20 as the relevant City of Edinburgh Council meeting had concluded.

3 Comments

  • ShoreResident

    I live at the Shore. I agree with widening the pavements as they are not 2m wide and in sections there is no pavement on the Water of Leith side of the pavement. However, as a disabled person I have two concerns: the area is already difficult to navigate in a wheelchair due to the cobbles and the steep curb cuts (the curb at the corner of Bernard Street against Kings’ Wark is almost impossible to manage in a wheelchair); and online grocery deliveries must still be able to access residents on the Shore. I’m sure I’m not the only one, but I’m self-isolating due to my disability and even outside of the coronavirus I absolutely rely on grocery deliveries to survive. I would not be able to physically get food without deliveries. In an ideal world I’d love to see the Shore pedestrianised but as a resident I can’t afford to lose vehicle access to the area, even though I myself don’t have a car.

  • Gordon Carmichael

    Think Duke Street should be included in the list – it’s a busy street with narrow pavements and pinch points around bus stops / crossings. Also the lower parts of Restalrig Terrace and Lochend Road have stretches where it’s not possible to stay 2m from people without going out onto the road. It’s ok just now with the roads being so quiet, but will be difficult when they get busy again and the schools start to go back.

  • I agree that there are many places where the pavement is not wide enough already to meet basic standards, never mind adding social distancing requirements. So yes, in an ideal world it would be nice to have wider pavements. But have the implications of this been thought through? Leith is not an ideal world, especially right now. The tram works are causing a lot of pain to a lot of residents – can we take any more roadworks? Leith is very difficult to drive through at all right now, with Leith Walk narrowed and about to become even more so, Constitution street closed, roadworks on Junction Bridge, road narrowing on Bernard street, Lindsay Road blocked off etc. etc. Causing even more congestion by introducing roadworks for widening of pavements will grind all traffic to a complete halt. Cyclists will ride on the pavement (as they already do anyway!) in all those streets (as there is no safe cycle path) so pedestrians will be more at risk than before!
    Narrowing the roads will have a negative impact on buses. This Council does not give adequate consideration to people who need to use public transport. Not everyone can walk or cycle. We have an ageing population and lots of people with hidden disabilities, who rely on car use, deliveries, and good public transport. We are in danger of making parts of the city better for some of the population but much worse and inaccessible for others. Stop and think it through! Model, study the consequences, consult people. Don’t do this in a rush!