Haymarket next for chaos on roads

MOTORISTS were today warned to brace themselves for "massive disruption" as the city's tram works reach the congested Haymarket junction.

Car drivers, bus and taxi passengers, and cyclists will all have to cope with a series of diversions, no entry signs and one-way systems from early tomorrow morning.

Drivers heading towards the city centre will find themselves re-routed along residential streets. Shorter diversions will be in place for buses, although fears were raised today that motorists will be confused by the different rules.

The seven-month project officially gets under way on Monday, just days before pupils go back to school and roads traditionally get busier.

Major tailbacks are expected during the morning rush hour along Corstorphine Road and the West Approach Road.

There will be five separate phases of the project, each with minor traffic changes, before the work is finished in February – with a break for the Christmas holidays.

The Hearts War Memorial will be kept in place for this year's remembrance service, then is likely to be put in storage until a new location is chosen, with a position in front of a revamped Haymarket Station considered the most likely of four options.

Utility pipes underneath road surfaces are being moved to make way for the £512 million line from Newhaven to Edinburgh Airport.

Willie Gallagher, executive chairman of TIE – the firm behind the plans – said: "The Haymarket location is both a vital artery to the city and a critical part of the Edinburgh tram project.

"With this in mind we have developed a robust traffic management system to minimise congestion, to ensure the continued movement of bus services and ensure the safety of pedestrians.

"We have worked very closely with Haymarket local businesses and residents groups to address their concerns and needs, and we appreciate their involvement."

City transport leader Phil Wheeler added: "The construction process is never a quick and easy one, as other cities with successful tram networks can vouch for, but ultimately the result is well worth it."

From tomorrow, drivers heading from Corstorphine Road will be diverted north along Magdala Crescent, which will become one-way, then along Eglinton Crescent, which along with Glencairn Crescent will operate as a clockwise one-way system.

From there, they can travel south-east along Palmerston Place to Torphichen Street, or along Chester Street. West Maitland Street will remain open to vehicles, with access from Dalry Road and Morrison Street. However, motorists are still banned from Shandwick Place and are re-routed via Melville Street.

Drivers heading away from the centre will not face so many diversions, and will still be able to travel from Morrison Street through the Haymarket junction to Haymarket Terrace or Dalry Road. TIE today said it plans to keep this arrangement in place throughout the works.

Drivers will also be able to use Palmerston Place or Manor Place to reach Torphichen Place.

Bruce Young, Lothian and Borders co-ordinator of the Association of British Drivers, warned that people would be confused and frustrated by the changes.

"The disruption is going to be massive," he said. "At the best of times, Corstorphine Road is a bottleneck.

"I would like to think that people will be able to find another way, but the options are being closed off one-by-one. And last week, I noticed that cars are driving along Shandwick Place anyway, ignoring the restrictions. It's reached the stage where people don't have much option."

Buses, taxis and bikes heading towards the city centre will be able to continue along Haymarket Terrace as far as Rosebery Crescent, which will become one-way.

There will be local access for residents, but Grosvenor Crescent and Lansdowne Crescent will operate in an anti-clockwise one-way system, and the entrance off Palmerston Place will be blocked by no-entry signs.

Buses will then travel along Grosvenor Street and back along West Maitland Street towards the city centre, via Shandwick Place.

Services affected include the number 12, 26, 31, X48, and the Airlink bus, which will additionally halt at the APEX Hotel and West Maitland Street.

Bill Campbell, Lothian Buses' operations director, said today: "Extensive planning has gone into the bus route diversions which are designed to result in as little or no disruption for bus passengers."

Gordon Wyllie, chairman of the West End Community Council, said local residents have been offered parking concessions and assured that "disruption will be kept to a minimum", but said there are still concerns.

"Many people in the West End question the appropriateness of undergoing such disruption in favour of installing a tram system that few residents approve of," he said. "The local traders are still suffering, and some are afraid they will go under. Many people just want it all to be over."


GOGAR ROUNDABOUT SECTION TO FINISH A WEEK EARLY
MOTORISTS received some good news today after it was announced that tram works at the Gogar roundabout are to finish a week early.

The project will be completed by next Monday, just before pupils go back to school.

Motorists have reported fewer hold-ups than expected at the key roundabout, which is used by workers at Edinburgh Park and shoppers at the Gyle. Four lanes on the north side of the roundabout were reduced to two, with further lane closures on approach roads including the city bypass and A8 eastbound.

Willie Gallagher, the executive chairman of trams company TIE, pictured left, said today: "I am extremely pleased with the progress of this section of the work and with project as a whole so far.

"We are committed to delivering a world-class tram network as quickly and as safely as possible and I am confident that with the measures we have put in place for this phase of the project, this will be achieved."

The work at Gogar involved moving and reinforcing utility pipes ahead of a project to build a tunnel beneath the roundabout's underpass.

This will link the tram depot on the north side of the roundabout with the Gyle and Edinburgh Park on the opposite side.