Traffic tragedy

One notes the recent publication of light-hearted letters regarding the state of the Capital's roads. However, there is a serious point which deserves more attention.

The city’s population is constantly being bombarded by the active travel plan; the council's shorthand for moving around the city using any method bar cars. The apparent urgency of implementing these plans is blamed on aspects such as climate change and congestion, with the start on “trials” to close some streets to vehicular traffic as early as summer.

A new north/south tram route is envisaged with scant regard to the experiences of businesses and residents along the route during construction, not to mention the mishandling and cost overrun of the current tram route. All this frenetic activity takes place against a backdrop where, despite claims to the contrary, no significant improvement in the potholed and rutted thoroughfares is evident but where “snagging work” on a newly completed £19 million – and little used – cycleway in the West End is already under way. Consultation on future plans is promised but, as residents in Corstorphine have found, may be of little value in affecting the outcome.

As they constantly point out, current levels of funding create the need for the council to prioritise spending commitments.

While any planning process must be forward looking, might one suggest that the council's focus should be on the here and now, directing available funding – in this case on roads – to improving the situation for all road users and not just for the pedestrians and cyclists.

Derek Stevenson

Edinburgh