Tracking progress Zooming in on Trams to Newhaven extension work
AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS have shown the progress of the Trams to Newhaven project, which at this point is behind schedule by 13 weeks.
Tram tracks are now laid at various locations on the 4.7 kms (2.91 miles) two-way extension to the line from York Place. The new section of the tram line is expected to be open by Spring 2023.
The final design includes improvements for pedestrians and cyclists all the way along the route.
The tram team advise of individual street closures and diversions as they happen. The latest is that Tower Street footpath will be closed for about two weeks from 26 July and diversion signs will be in place.
The original plan was to run the tram on lines 1, 2 and 3, but funding was not made available for all phases when the original tram project was agreed.
What the city ended up with was half the line at twice the cost, something which the Edinburgh Tram Inquiry chaired by former Lord Advocate, Lord Hardie, QC, will report on at a future date. The original project cost of £375 million has spiralled to around £1 billion, while the cost of the inquiry is estimate at
£12 million.
Line 1 originally included 22 stops and was to be a circular route to Granton waterfront which cut back across town using the disused railway to Haymarket.
With 4,000 homes proposed for the Waterfront it may be a development the council will return to in years to come.
If the proposed line 3 to Newcraighall had been approved, it would have been difficult to justify spending £120 million on the Sheriffhall roundabout, as provided for by the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal.
Campaigners hope that when the threat of the pandemic is past, politicians may consider those earlier proposals more seriously in light of the climate emergency.